Editing Bunk Johnson (section)

=== Birth ===
Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although Johnson stated on his 1937 application for [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] that he was born on December 27, 1889<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tomko |first=Gene |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZKzDwAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, and Gospel |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0807169322 |location=Baton Rouge |pages=136–137}}</ref> and there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a decade. According to jazz critic [[Scott Yanow]], Johnson was probably born at the 1889 date.<ref name=":2" />

Johnson was the youngest of 14 children. He had been schooled in sight reading and improvisation by the time he began playing professionally with the Superior Orchestra and the [[The Eagle Band|Eagle Band]] in 1910. He claimed to have attended [[New Orleans University]], although no diploma from the college survives.<ref name=":2" />