John Sansone (born September 27, 1957),[2][3][4] also known as Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, is an American electric blues singer, songwriter, harmonicist, accordionist, guitarist and piano player. He was nominated for seven music awards in 2012, including a Blues Music Award which he won.[5] To date, he has been involved in the release of twelve original albums.
His father had played the saxophone in Dave Brubeck's band during World War II, and by the time he was age 12, his son had learned to play the saxophone, guitar and harmonica and seen Howlin' Wolf in concert.[10] He later studied blues harmonica playing by studying both Junior Wells and James Cotton. He left New Jersey in 1975 on a swimming scholarship at a college in Colorado.[1]
Sansone moved between Colorado, Austin, Texas, Florida, Chicago, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, before settling in 1990 in New Orleans, which has been his home base ever since. His original touring band, known as Jumpin' Johnny & the Blues Party, recorded their debut album, Where Y'at in 1987, which was released by the independent record label, Kingsnake Records, based in Sanford, Florida.[1]Mr. Good Thing (1991) followed, before Sansone got inspired to try his hand at playing the accordion after attending the funeral of Clifton Chenier.[10]
By the second half of the 1990s, Sansone had embraced Cajun, Southern soul, Chicago and Delta blues into his style and songwriting.[11] The resultant recording, Crescent City Moon (1997), was mainly his own work; although it included a cover version of Ted Hawkins' "Sweet Baby", which featured Sonny Landreth playing slide guitar. The collection included liner notes from Greg "Fingers" Taylor.[11][12] It received widespread critical approval and several awards,[1] including scooping several Offbeat magazine's 'Best of the Beat' accolades.[10]Rounder Records subsidiary label, Bullseye Blues, issued Waternelon Patch (1999), which saw guest appearances by Jon Cleary (piano) and Joe Krown (organ).[13]
Sansone lost momentum in the early 2000s, although he continued to perform in various musical ensembles, as well as working during the week in construction.[1] He started to play in a trio with Joe Krown and John Fohl. They played traditional blues with Krown on piano, and Fohl and Sansone sharing the vocal duties. This trio Sansone, Krown & Fohl released a self-titled album from Sansone's label ShortStack Records in 2004.[14][15]
In 2005, Sansone joined the Voice of the Wetlands Allstars (which variously incorporated Dr. John, Cyril Neville, Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Vidacovich, Anders Osborne, George Porter Jr., Waylon Thibodeaux, and Tab Benoit),[16] who were interested in promoting local environmental issues. The band became a regular feature at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.[17] Having to vacate his home in the legacy of Hurricane Katrina, Sansone continued to tour and perform with
the Voice of the Wetlands Allstars, wherein he befriended Anders Osborne.[10]Poor Man's Paradise (2007) was Sansone's first solo album for eight years and was produced by Osborne who also played clavinet and slide guitar on two of the tracks. Joe Krown also contributed on the electric organ.[18] In 2009, Sansone played the accordion on Mike Zito's album, Pearl River.[19][20]
By then playing in another acoustic trio setting, this time with Osborne and Fohl, Sansone was inspired to write the track, "The Lord Is Waiting and The Devil Is Too". It turned in to the title track of his 2011 album, and won the 'Song of the Year' title at the 2012 Blues Music Awards.[10][21] It provided a release from the stresses of a marital break-up, and the record's producer Osborn pushed Sansone's music towards a more commercial, rock influenced, direction.[22] In October 2012, Sansone performed at the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, and in December that year, Sansone appeared at the inaugural Bradenton Blues Festival.[23]
After a couple of live album releases, Sansone's next studio based creation was Once It Gets Started (2013).[10] Sansone then gave "one of the best individual performances of the 2014 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival," according to Offbeat magazine.[5]
A later issue, Lady on the Levee (2015), was another Osborne production and included a guest appearance from Monk Boudreaux.[10][24]
Influences
Sansone's major influence was his fellow blues musician and songwriter, Jimmy Reed.[6]
^Skelly, Richard. "Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone bringing the blues to Red Bank", Asbury Park Press, June 30, 2017. Accessed November 21, 2017. "Harmonica player-vocalist-accordionist “Jumpin’ " Johnny Sansone, a West Orange native, will be accompanied by guitarist John Fohl, who rose to prominence as an excellent ensemble lead guitarist with Dr. John's Lower 911 small group."
^Hicks, Robert. "Odyssey to New Orleans; Johnny Sansone started in New Jersey but wound up in the Big Easy", Daily Record, August 19, 2001. Accessed December 14, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Sansone, a native of Orange, began his music career on saxophone under the watchful eye of his father, Al Sansone, who played sax with jazz pianist Dave Brubeck.... Sansone, started guitar around the same time and began performing on harp and guitar in local blues bands in West Orange, where he later became a star swimmer at West Orange High School."
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