Kris Johnson, M.A., has achieved significant success in jazz, contributing to seven GRAMMY-nominated albums, including the 2024 winner “Basie Sings the Blues.” He’s written two musicals, scored the Emmy-nominated “King Ester,” toured globally with the Count Basie Orchestra for over a decade, and performed at venues like the Apollo Theater, the Hollywood Bowl and Sydney Opera House.
But to fully appreciate Johnson’s journey, it helps to start at the beginning.
“At 8 or 9, I watched my father play electric bass in the pit orchestra of a church musical,” he said. “There was a trumpet player, and I was fascinated by the instrument. He asked me if I wanted to try. He showed me how to buzz my lips, and I made a sound, and by fifth grade, I knew I wanted to play the trumpet.”
Yet discovering his true calling took time. Two pivotal events during his freshman year in high school changed his life forever.
“My marching band director, Damien Crutcher, called me out for not knowing my part, saying I wasn’t living up to my potential. It was the first time anyone had said I had potential,” said Johnson. “And though I started practicing out of fear, I realized I had real talent and began taking music seriously.”
That same year, his older brother took him to the Detroit Jazz Festival, one of the largest free jazz festivals in the world.
“I wasn’t into jazz yet, but hearing a trumpet solo inspired me. The freedom and sound made me realize that’s what I wanted to do.”
Inspired, Johnson asked Crutcher, a 1990 Spartan grad himself, about jazz and delved deeper into the genre.
“That started my journey. I knew from then on, in whatever capacity, it was going to involve music. Originally, only as an educator, but then, quickly, the desire to perform started to grow.”
Support from Crutcher proved invaluable: He helped Johnson start a jazz combo and brought in guest artists. Notably, Johnson’s class was the first to play with the Detroit Symphony Civic Jazz Orchestra with Marcus Belgrave. He later became the first graduate of MSU’s Jazz Studies master’s program in 2007, after earning his bachelor’s in 2005.
“MSU gave me lots of exposure,” he said. “Wycliffe Gordon and Dwight Adams were phenomenal musicians and teachers, and Professor [Rodney] Whitaker brought in GRAMMY-winning artists for us to play with, like Jon Hendricks and Wynton Marsalis. I also played on Wycliffe’s project, Body and Soul, an original score to the 1925 silent film by filmmaker Oscar Micheaux.”
At MSU, Johnson played in concert and symphony bands, jazz ensembles and various gigs. He studied with acclaimed musicians, including Whitaker, Derrick Gardner, Diego Rivera and Rick Roe.
Now an assistant professor of jazz trumpet at the University of Michigan, Johnson leads The Paradise Theatre Big Band at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Kris Johnson Group, and continues to grow his online platform, Office Hours with Kris Johnson, which offers music theory and trumpet technique.
But that’s not all. Johnson draws on his extensive experience as an educator and performer in the community, too. As a consultant for JazzEd Detroit, he advises on innovative programs and community engagement. And in his role on the board of Detroit Harmony, an initiative of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, he collaborates with others to expand access to music education and provide greater support for local teachers.
Beyond these leadership roles, Johnson is a sought-after clinician who travels to grade schools and universities nationwide to deliver impactful educational workshops. This summer, he will embark on a new adventure as guest bandleader of NYO Jazz, joining GRAMMY and Tony Award-winner Dee Dee Bridgewater for performances at Carnegie Hall and on a tour across Asia.
From those first tentative notes in Detroit to leading ensembles on international stages, Johnson’s purposeful journey endures—in the spotlight, the classroom and the community—making jazz and the wider world better for it.
By Sarah Carpenter, ’00