A Legendary Tuba Player's Musical Memorial

For 50 years, Tommy Johnson (in a photo from the 1970s) was the go-to tuba player in Hollywood.

Courtesy Patricia Johnson

Over the weekend, 99 tuba players gathered to play a few tunes in honor one of their own, a studio musician named Tommy Johnson who died in October.

For 50 years, Johnson was the tuba player in Hollywood. Composer John Williams once called him "one of the greatest instrumentalists of his generation."

Johnson played on a number of famous Hollywood scores, including the theme from Jaws. Other credits include the scores for Titanic, Indiana Jones, The Godfather and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Johnson taught music at the University of Southern California, where the tribute concert took place.