32c James P. Johnson stamp

James P. Johnson, born in 1894, is credited as the "father of stride piano." Johnson approached the keyboard with powerful, recurrent, octave-spanning, left-hand innovations and rhythmic and harmonic intensities that became acknowledged influences on many of the jazz performers who followed him. Johnson wrote his first major Broadway musical, "Runnin' Wild," in 1923.

Reference: Postal Bulletin (August 17, 1995)

Scott Catalogue USA: 2985
mint

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Museum ID: 1996.2066.232