Marcus Johnson

Marcus Johnson shapes his identity as a smooth jazz keyboardist by weaving rap rhythms into the foundational soul of R&B. A wide spectrum of sounds filled his early environment, with his mother at the classical piano and his first lasting concert memory coming from an Earth, Wind & Fire performance alongside his father. At thirteen the pull toward jazz surfaced through his first work at the keys, an instrument his step-father purchased after winning Maryland’s “Pick-3 Lottery.” From that point he immersed himself in both traditional and contemporary figures, regularly naming Joe Sample and Thelonious Monk among his central references.

Johnson went on to found Marimelj Entertainment Group, Inc., a production company and music publisher devoted to fusing contemporary jazz, alternative, and R&B into the style the company designates “the Urban Groove.”