Overview
Gravity!!! is an album by multi-instrumentalist Howard Johnson and his band Gravity. Johnson's second release as a leader, it was recorded at Clinton Recording Studios in New York City, and was issued in 1996 by Verve Records. On the album, Johnson is joined by tubists Dave Bargeron, Joseph Daley, Nedra Johnson, Carl Kleinsteuber, Tom Malone, Earl McIntyre, Marcus Rojas, and Bob Stewart, guitarist Georg Wadenius, pianists Ray Chew, Paul Shaffer, and James Williams, double bassists Bob Cranshaw and Melissa Slocum, drummers Kenwood Dennard and Kenny Washington, and percussionist Victor See Yuen.
Reception
In a review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow wrote: "Imagine a group that consists of piano, bass, drums, and five to seven tubas... Despite the instrumentation, the group plays the music... with swing, creativity, and more variety than one might expect." W. Kim Heron of MusicHound Jazz described the album as "direct, soulful, and swinging, despite the big brass ballast."
Track listing
# "Big Alice" (Don Pullen) – 9:07 # "Stolen Moments" (Oliver Nelson) – 7:53 # "'Way 'Cross Georgia" (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson) – 5:35 # "Kelly Blue" (Wynton Kelly) – 12:13 # "Be No Evil" (Howard Johnson) – 3:18 # "Yesterdays" (Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach) – 11:08 # "Here Comes Sonny Man" (Howard Johnson) – 4:05 # "Appointment in Ghana" (Jackie McLean) – 6:00 # "'Round Midnight" (Thelonious Monk) – 4:53 # "And Then Again ... (Kelly Blue - Reprise)" (Kelly Blue) – 0:22
Personnel
* Howard Johnson – tuba, penny whistle * Dave Bargeron – tuba, euphonium * Joseph Daley – tuba, euphonium (tracks 1–8) * Nedra Johnson – tuba (track 5) * Carl Kleinsteuber – tuba (tracks 2–4, 7–9) * Earl McIntyre – tuba, euphonium (tracks 1–6, 8) * Tom Malone – tuba (track 3) * Marcus Rojas – tuba (tracks 2, 4, 7, 8) * Bob Stewart – tuba (tracks 1, 4–6) * Georg Wadenius – guitar (tracks 3, 7) * Ray Chew – piano (tracks 1, 4, 6) * Paul Shaffer – piano, keyboards (tracks 3, 5, 7) * James Williams – piano (tracks 2, 8, 9) * Bob Cranshaw – double bass (tracks 1, 4–6) * Melissa Slocum – double bass, electric bass (tracks 2, 3, 7, 8) * Kenwood Dennard – drums (tracks 1, 4–6) * Kenny Washington – drums (tracks 2, 3, 7, 8) * Victor See Yuen – percussion (tracks 3, 7, 8)