JOHNSON, WILLIAM MANUEL

JOHNSON, WILLIAM MANUEL (BILL). Jazz bandleader (10 August 1872 in New Orleans, Louisiana; 1960s[?] in Mexico). He began playing guitar at fifteen, then changed to string bass when he joined a trio in 1900 that performed at a Basin Street cafe in New Orleans. He remained there until 1909, but also played with brass bands, including Frankie Dusen's Eagle Band, Theogene Baquet's Excelsior, and the Peerless; for parades he doubled on the tuba. He organized the Original Creole...