Steph Johnson
ABOUT
Steph Johnson is an award-winning, multi-dimensional recording artist and activist whose music deftly blends jazz, soul, funk and blues. Through her 20-year music career, Steph has recorded five studio albums.
Her latest album "So In Love", is a collection of Johnson's favorite jazz standards and ballads. The 10-track record features pianist Josh Nelson (Natalie Cole), guitarist Anthony Wilson (Diana Krall), trumpeter Chris Lawrence, bassist Rob Thorsen and drummer Richard Sellers.
“With her recent release of 'So In Love,' Steph continues her spiral upward towards bright, musical horizons. This may be her best recording to date.”
— DeeDee McNeil. LA Jazz Scene
Growing up, Steph was influenced by her grandmother’s favorite singers: Ike and Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder; and by the ’70s icons beloved by her mother, including James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. She discovered jazz through Miles Davis' classic album, ‘Kind of Blue’, which led her to the great female jazz vocalists: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn.
“Johnson’s core strength is as a communicator with rhythmic depth and smoky, pliant power…her sweet yearning vocal really soars."
— Robert Bush, Jazz critic
Johnson performs regularly throughout Southern California and the Western United States. She is currently working on new material for her next project.
When she’s not working on music, Steph directs her creative energy towards social activism. In 2016 she co-founded Voices of Our City Choir, with fellow musician Nina Deering. What began as an organic collaboration between local musicians and people experiencing homelessness has grown into an internationally recognized performance ensemble and innovative nonprofit that uses music and arts to amplify the voices of people impacted by homelessness. Steph now serves as Voices’ Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director. Read more about Voices of Our City Here.
Steph Johnson’s work and the formation of the Choir, was featured in the 2018 award-winning documentary “TheHomeless Chorus Speaks”, which aired on PBS.
Her tireless dedication to her craft and the unsheltered community has earned her well- deserved recognitions, including 2020 “Woman of the Year”, a finalist for San Diego Magazine’s 2022 Activist of the Year, as well as “California Arts Champion” by Californians for the Arts, exemplifying Steph’s profound impact on the arts and society at large.