Randy Johnston (musician)

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Randy Johnston

| image =

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| birth_name =Randy Barksdale Johnston

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|12|5}}

| birth_place =Detroit, Michigan

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = Guitar

| years_active =1981–present

| label =Muse, J Curve, HighNote

| website = {{URL|randyjohnston.net}}

}}

Randy Barksdale Johnston (born December 5, 1956) is an American jazz guitarist.

Career

The Beatles's performance on The Ed Sullivan Show inspired Johnston to start playing guitar in childhood.{{cite book|last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Great Jazz Guitarists |date=2013 |publisher=Backbeat |location=San Francisco |isbn=978-1-61713-023-6 |page=103}} He heard jazz for the first time on the album The Smithsonian Collection of Jazz and was influenced by guitarists Kenny Burrell and Grant Green.

Johnston's family moved to Richmond, Virginia, when he was thirteen.{{cite web|last1=Henderson|first1=Alex|title=Randy Johnston |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/randy-johnston-mn0000399004/biography|website=AllMusic|accessdate=23 June 2017}} He was a member of rock bands that performed at parties and school dances. In the late 1970s he attended the University of Miami, occasionally involved in jam sessions at a Unitarian Church with Ira Sullivan. In the early 1980s he moved to New York City and worked with Warne Marsh, then as a sideman with Houston Person and Etta Jones. Person produced his first album, Walk On, which was engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. He has worked with Joey DeFrancesco, Lou Donaldson, Lee Konitz, and Lonnie Smith.