Saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Josh Johnson is known for his sophisticated, genre-crossing approach to modern jazz. Since emerging in the 2010s, Johnson has recorded with luminaries like Jeff Parker and Makaya McCraven. As the leader of the group Holophonor, he released 2015's Light Magnet before gaining wider attention as the musical director for singer Leon Bridges. In 2019, he joined Daniel Rotem for Sweet Stuff.

A native of Chicago, Johnson started playing saxophone at age ten after listening to Lester Young. After high school, he studied music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music working under noted professor David Baker. In 2012, he relocated to the West Coast to attend the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, based at the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA. There, he studied with Wayne Shorter and formed a group called Holophonor, and they recorded an eponymous debut in 2014 and its 2015 follow-up, Light Magnet. Also in 2015, he premiered his work "UNREST," a commission by the Los Angeles Jazz Society inspired by the 1992 Los Angeles uprising.

Along with his own work, he has continued to branch out, working with guitarist Jeff Parker, and recording with artists like Marquis Hill, Makaya McCraven, Kiefer, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Dawes, Joshua White, and many others. Since 2018, Johnson has held the position of musical director, keyboardist, and saxophonist with Grammy-winning singer Leon Bridges. In 2019, he collaborated with saxophonist Daniel Rotem on their album Sweet Stuff. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi