I remember first noticing Scott Johnson when he began showing up at concerts at The Kitchen on Wooster Street. He was quite striking: long flowing hair, handsome and well dressed. We were first introduced to each other by Scott Billingsly, visual artist, mutual friend also from Wisconsin. (Scott Billingsly later became known as Scott B, filmmaking partner of Beth B.) The two Scott’s were doing manual labor together at the time, demolishing and renovating lofts. It sometimes took Scott days to be able to use his fingers for guitar, after sanding floors all day. And like many composers of my generation (Peter Zummo, Rhys Chatham, myself) he was employed by Charlie Morrow as a tape editor for his audio production business.
Scott played with me in various pre-LOLO ensembles (at Sobosseks, Phill Niblock) and in the first incarnation of LOLO. We also performed together in the #laurieanderson Fast Food Band, along with Arthur Russell (sometimes on drums), bassist Jack Majewski and myself.
And I remember his early tape loop performances, in which case he’d have long tape loops wrapped around mic stands, and live musicians behind a screen, playing musical transliterations of the spoken loops.
I last saw Scott at an Issue Project concert (of David Behrman, Alvin?). He had just hiked the Sangre de Cristo mountains in NM. We shared recollections of the Santa Fe ski basin, which is glorious for hunting chanterelles in the Fall.
But my main memory of Scott is his introducing me to Steely Dan. The Aja album had just come out and he’d mouth the chorus of Deacon Blues, point at me, and giggle. “Learn to work the saxophone, I’ll play just just what I feel…” indeed.