Lucien Johnson has been described as “a saxophonist and composer of rare excellence and mettle.” Involved in a diverse range of artistic projects, his music always succeeds in maintaining a distinctive sound, with a chameleonic emotional range that can shift from warm and intimate through to radical and rebellious. Growing up in an artistic household in Pukerua Bay, New Zealand, Johnson took off for Europe at the age of 22. Since then his music has been greatly informed by his global travelling and encounters. Living in Paris for most of his formative years in the 2000s, he performed in a free improvising trio with Alan Silva and Makoto Sato, releasing an album on French label Improvised Beings. He has performed with a long list of luminaries from jazz and improvised music, such as Mulatu Astatke, Barre Phillips, Marilyn Crispell, John Betsch. He returned to New Zealand in 2009 where he completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Victoria University. www.lucienjohnson.com
