Pete James Johnson is a drummer, composer, and educator in the Twin Cities - most often seen playing jazz and improvised music but is at home in a variety of musical worlds. He performs with local artists such as the Zacc Harris Group, Bryan Nichols, Javier Santiago, Omar Abdulkarim, Dosh, Michael Cain, Chris Bates’ Red 5, Will Kjeer, Barbara Cohen, Andrew Walesch, Nooky Jones, Adam Meckler, Aaron Hedenstrom, JazzMN Orchestra, Twin Cities Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Adam Bohanan. Additionally, Pete has also worked with international artists such as the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Alan Broadbent, Russ Ferrante, Alex Hahn, Alan Pasqua, Bob Sheppard, and Al Schmitt.
As an educator, Pete has taught at The College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University, The University of Minnesota Morris, Hamline University, University of Southern California, and has served as a clinician and guest artist at Jazz Festivals around the Midwest. Pete’s primary instructors were Peter Erskine (Weather Report, Steely Dan), Ndugu Chancler (Miles Davis, Michael Jackson), Bill Platt (Cincinnati Symphony) Ambrose Akinmusire, and National Medal of Arts recipient Morten Lauridson.
As a composer/arranger, Pete primarily composes for television, film, and media. He has composed music for the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games, NBC, FOX, Peacock, Amazon Prime, Netflix, MTV, USA, E!, national advertisements, and European films.
