Nedra Johnson (born July 27, 1966) is an American

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer/songwriter and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

. She has performed internationally at jazz, blues, pride and women's music festivals as a solo artist, a tuba player, and vocalist.

Early life

Johnson was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1966. She is the daughter of jazz performer Howard Johnson.

Career

Johnson has performed in internationally in cities including

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

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Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

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, and

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. She has also performed with her father Howard Johnson and his group, Gravity. For many years, she performed as a professional bassist and continues with solo acoustic performances with an R&B flair. Johnson, a lesbian, is a performer of

women's music Women's music is a type of music based on the ideas of feminist separatism and lesbian separatism, designed to inspire feminist consciousness chiefly in Western popular music, to promote music "by women, for women, and about women." Women's mu ...

. On her first album, ''Testify'', she recorded the black lesbian feminist poet

Pat Parker Pat Parker (born Patricia Cooks; January 20, 1944June 17, 1989) was an African American poet and activist. Both her poetry and her activism drew from her experiences as a Black lesbian feminist.Pat Parker. Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 20 ...

's 1978 poem "Where Will You Be?" In 2005, Johnson released her own version of "Amazon Women Rise" as a tribute to the lesbian songwriter

Maxine Feldman Maxine "Max" Adele Feldman (December 26, 1945 – August 17, 2007) was an American folk singer-songwriter, comedian and pioneer of women's music. Feldman's song "Angry Atthis," first performed in May 1969 and first recorded in 1972, is considere ...

, a founding figure in women's music.

Awards

Her self-titled release received a 2006 OUTMUSIC Award for Outstanding New Recording-Female.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

*''Testify'' (1998) *''Nedra'' (2005)

Notable performances

Michigan Womyn's Music Festival The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, was a lesbian feminist women's music festival held annually from 1976 to 2015 in Oceana County, Michigan, on privately owned woodland near Hart Township referred to a ...

, Wahalla, MI: 2014, 2005, 2003, 2001, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1992 *Queer Is Folk Festival, Chicago, IL: 2005 *

National Queer Arts Festival National Queer Arts Festival (NQAF) is an annual queer festival in San Francisco organized by the Queer Cultural Center and established in 1998 to coincide with Pride Month. Other organisations which have assisted over the years include the Har ...

, San Francisco, CA: 2003, 2002 *Femme Funk Festival, Nouméa, New Caledonia: 2002, 1999 *National Women's Music Festival, Muncie, IN: 1998, 1996

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Nedra 1966 births African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters 20th-century African-American women singers American double-bassists American rhythm and blues musicians Women tubists American feminist musicians Lesbian feminists American lesbian musicians African-American LGBTQ people American LGBTQ singers Living people Singers from New York City Singer-songwriters from New York (state) American women bloggers American bloggers Women's music 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American double-bassists 21st-century American tubists 21st-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American double-bassists 20th-century American tubists 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American writers