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Paul Johnson
Despite the fact his first release came out just 4 years ago, Chicago's Paul Johnson has managed to move from being known solely through his DJing prowess to a man renowned for his productions, remixes, and inspiration of the likes of the Dafters and other young house punks. Personally, I remember playing out Johnson's "Speech Impediment" EP on Relief in the summer of 1995 and thinking "I gotta get me more of this guy's music". Turns out that was his first record, but he's managed to record over 40 singles for labels like Underground Construction, Dance Mania, Cajual, Peacefrog, ACV, and plenty more since. "The Groove I Have" is, in fact, his eighth album. Do the math and you'll see that he's one heck of a prolific trackmaster. Johnson's best attribute is that, though he bangs out the tracks at a quick pace, he knows you've got to mine a few shafts to hit gold. To put it simply, he's adept at making house music--from nasty ghetto bangers to filter tracks and disco cut ups, songs with lush instrumentation to jackin' beat workouts--and he knows you've got to have variety over the course of an album. There's too many producers out there repeating themselves; thankfully, Johnson isn't one of them. The title track, its "The Groove Goes On" companion, and "The Way He Plays" feature smooth guitar riffing and scatting (likely stolen from George Benson, a Johnson favorite), while Johnson's edits and sound effects breathe life into the A side and "The Good Time". The distorted kick of "The Party Horn" will please those looking for Rush-styled tracks, while the dancing brass of "Caliente Musica" and dueling piano and flute stabs in "Get Get Down" are a refreshing return to the early Johnson of RR720 that will surely bring a smile to the face of anyone who misses those initial Relief releases. Here's to Paul Johnson and plenty more years of funking us up Chi-town style. --Andrew Duke Back to album reviews index |
