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Pete Johnson




He began his musical career in 1922 as a drummer in Kansas City, Missouri . From 1926 to 1938 he worked as a pianist, often accompanying Big Joe Turner . In 1938 he and Turner appeared in the Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall . This concert started a boogie-woogie craze, and Turner and two other performers at the concert, Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons , worked together afterwards at Café Society for a long time; they also toured and recorded together.

In 1950 he moved to Buffalo, New York but, despite problems with his health, continued to tour and record, notably with Jimmy Rushing , Turner, and Jazz At The Philharmonic .