Marcus in Washingtonian Magazine
Life of Song
When not performing or recording, this musician is playing for charity and preaching from his keyboard pulpit.
By Gretchen Cook Published Monday, February 01, 2010
A teenage crush turned Marcus Johnson into a musician. “I wanted to write a song for this young lady, and I decided, ‘Okay, I’m going to do this music thing,’ ” says the pianist and composer.
Since that first song at age 14, the Silver Spring resident has been on Billboard’s top-ten contemporary-jazz chart several times, and his production company, Three Keys Music, competes with major labels.
His smooth jazz mixes everything from salsa to go-go, reflecting his eclectic background. His mother played classical piano, but it was when his funk-loving father took him to see Earth, Wind & Fire that Johnson decided that was the world he wanted.
Johnson, 38, looks buff and polished in his state-of-the-art Studio 8121 in Silver Spring, but that wasn’t always the image he projected.
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