Born In Minneapolis, Jeff Johnson ("Free" to some of his colleagues) left at age 20, spending time in Philadelphia and New York, and has worked with a veritable who's who of great jazz musicians such as Philly Joe Jones, Charlie Rouse, Barney Kessel, Chet Baker, Lew Tabackin, Eddie Daniels, Mark Murphy, Joanne Brackeen, Julian Priester, Jay Clayton, Marlena Shaw, Billy Hart, Annie Ross, George Cables, Bud Shank, Claudio Roditti, Ernestine Anderson, and Michael Wolfe, to name just a few.

Jeff met Jessica Williams in Seattle in 1991 and Hal Galper at the Port Townsend Festival in 1993, great pianists with whom he has had ongoing musical relationships. He is one of the most on-call working musicians in the competitive Seattle musical arena, and his contribution to jazz is substantial and continuing.

He now leads various small ensembles, composes, goes on the road frequently, and is involved in numerous projects and recording dates around the world.