Randy Johnston is an American 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...

 guitarist.

Johnston moved to Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 at age thirteen, and played rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 as a teenager. He studied at the University of Miami

University of Miami

The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

 late in the 1970s and switched focus to jazz music, playing there with Ira Sullivan

Ira Sullivan

Ira Sullivan is a bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, flautist, saxophonist and composer born in Washington, D.C.. An active musician since the 1950s, he may be best known for his extensive work with Red Rodney and Lin Halliday among others....

. He moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in 1981, and in the decade of the 1980s played with Houston Person

Houston Person

Houston Person is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. Person is also known for his distinctive sassy sound and his expressive style of playing...

 and Etta Jones

Etta Jones

Etta Jones was an American jazz singer. She is not to be confused with the more popular singer Etta James nor her namesake, a member of the Dandridge Sisters, who recorded with Jimmy Lunceford and was Gerald Wilson's first wife. Her best known recordings were "Don't Go To Strangers" and "Save...

. In 1991 he signed with Muse Records

Muse Records

Muse Records was an American record label which released jazz and blues music.Muse was founded in the early 1970s by Joe Fields, who had previously worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s...

; his first two albums were produced by Person and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder

Rudy Van Gelder

Rudy Van Gelder is an American recording engineer specializing in jazz.Often regarded as one of the most important recording engineers in music history, Van Gelder has recorded several thousand jazz sessions, including many widely recognized as classics, in a career spanning more than half a century...

. He recorded steadily as a leader since then, and has also played as a sideman on albums with Lionel Hampton

Lionel Hampton

Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...

, Lou Donaldson

Lou Donaldson

Lou Donaldson is a jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker.His first recordings were...

, Jack McDuff

Jack McDuff

"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...

, Lonnie Smith

Lonnie Smith (jazz musician)

Dr. Lonnie Smith is a jazz Hammond B3 organist and pianist.-Biography:He was born in Lackawanna, New York, into a family with a vocal group and radio program. Smith says that his mother was a major influence on him musically, as she introduced him to gospel, classical, and jazz music...

, and John DeFrancesco

John DeFrancesco

'Papa' John DeFrancesco is an American jazz organist and vocalist, and father of Joey DeFrancesco and Johnny DeFrancesco....

.

Discography

• Walk On (Muse Records
  Muse Records
  Muse Records was an American record label which released jazz and blues music.Muse was founded in the early 1970s by Joe Fields, who had previously worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s...
  
  , 1991)
• Jubilation (Muse, 1992)
• In-A-Chord (Muse, 1994)
• Somewhere in the Night (HighNote Records
  HighNote Records
  HighNote Records is an American record label based in New York City, specializing in jazz music.HighNote was founded by Joe Fields, who worked for Prestige Records as an executive in the 1960s and founded Muse Records in the 1970s. He co-founded HighNote and its sister label, Savant Records, in...
  
  , 1997)
• Riding the Curve (JCurve, 1998)
• Homage (JCurve, 2000)
• Detour Ahead (HighNote, 2001)
• Hit & Run (HighNote, 2002)
• Is it You? (HighNote, 2005)
• People Music (Random Act Records, 2011)