“I owe all of my knowledge -- as far as the way that I approach having a career, my vision, and thinking outside of the box -- I owe 110 percent of that to the advice that he’s given me and just his friendship,” Johnson said.

​​Johnson's debut album consists primarily of original songs and interludes. But, he also put his own spin on tunes by Robert Flack and Radiohead, as well as a melancholy take on the time-honored standard, “Summertime.”

"That tune in that particular key just had something of a moody quality," he said. "Many people have done it many ways. A lot of people have done it in a really up way or a really happy way, and I always just thought that my horn fits best in like a moodier context.”

“From the moment I wake up until the time I go to bed I’m sort of consumed with music and obsessed with it, but it never feels like work to me at all," Johnson said. "I really like doing it. I sort of enjoy the monotony of playing long tones on the horn every day and all that that kind of stuff. It’s great! If this is hard work, bring me all the hard work I can get.”