Charlie "Fess" Johnson was an America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

n jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 bandleader and pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

.

Johnson led an ensemble called the Paradise Ten, who played at Small's Paradise from 1925–1935 and recorded five times between 1925 and 1929. Though Johnson was a capable pianist, he rarely soloed on his recordings. The Paradise Ten ensemble included a number of noted sidemen, including trumpeters Jabbo Smith

Jabbo Smith

Jabbo Smith, born as Cladys Smith was a United States jazz musician, known for his hot virtuoso playing on the trumpet....

, Leonard Davis

Leonard Davis

Leonard Barnett Davis is an American football guard for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas.Davis has also played for the Dallas Cowboys.-Early years:Davis is the...

, Sidney DeParis, and Thomas Morris

Thomas Morris (musician)

Thomas Morris was an American jazz cornetist. Born in New York in 1898, jazz critic Scott Yanow noted that Morris's primitive style was "an excellent example of how New York brass players sounded before the rise of Louis Armstrong." Morris' many recordings include dates with Clarence Williams,...

, trombonists Charlie Irvis

Charlie Irvis

Charlie Irvis was an American jazz trombonist, best known for performing in Duke Ellington's band.Irvis played with Bubber Miley in his youth and then with blues singer Lucille Hegamin in the "Blue Flame Syncopators" from 1920 to 1921...

 and Jimmy Harrison

Jimmy Harrison

Jimmy Harrison was an American jazz trombonist.Harrison began on trombone at age 15, playing locally in the Toledo, Ohio area...

, alto saxophonists Benny Carter

Benny Carter

Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...

 and Edgar Sampson

Edgar Sampson

Edgar Melvin Sampson was a composer, arranger, saxophonist, and violinist...

, and tenor saxophonist Benny Waters

Benny Waters

Benny Waters was a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist known, in part, for the longevity of his career....

. Johnson led the ensemble until 1938; following this he freelanced in various ensembles until he retired due to health problems in the 1950s.