"Jim Crow's Tears" is a jazz oratorio composed by Kris Johnson and influenced by the history of minstrelsy and blackface entertainment in the United States. This educational presentation combines musical, theatrical, and visual arts to tell the story of a young slave who was forced to become a minstrel performer. "Jim Crow's Tears” makes ties between minstrel shows and modern day media; focusing on the perpetuation of the negative stereotypes of African Americans.

http://www.jimcrowstears.com/

Kris Johnson is a trumpeter, composer, arranger, and educator with a Master’s (2007) and Bachelor’s (2005) degree in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University. A native of Detroit, MI, Kris’s education began with Damien Crutcher’s music program at Southfield-Lathrup High School (2001), Harold McKinney’s jazz workshop, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Marcus Belgrave.

Kris has since performed with many jazz greats including Wess Anderson, Wycliffe Gordon, Jon Hendricks, Rodney Whitaker & the MSU Professors of Jazz, and many others. PBS viewers may have seen Kris in the documentary “Inside Jazz: Everybody’s Welcome,” where Kris was a featured soloist in a master class with jazz great Wynton Marsalis.

Kris recently received first place in the 8th Annual Great American Song Contest for his composition “My Apologies”. His writing can also be heard on the track “My Favorite Things” from Yolanda Adams’s 2007 release “What a Wonderful Day,” on which he played trumpet and arranged the horns. Kris currently serves as the Assistant Conductor of Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Jazz Ensembles.