Jazz Musician Plays Floral Notes
Everyone knows that musicians “wanna be ballers,” but vintners? D.C.-based jazz musician Marcus Johnson has made that very crossover, going from improvising grooves to riffing on tannins with his brand of Flo Wines.
Renaissance man: musician and wine brand owner Marcus Johnson (Richard Barry/ DC on Heels)
For the Love Of
An accomplished musician with 15 albums under his belt, Johnson is turning his music into a brand, promoting the Flo (For the Love Of) lifestyle with his new line of wines. To hear Johnson explain it, wine was the perfect playing partner for his musical career. “I am a musician,” said Johnson, “but a business man first. My fan base is mostly women. And when they come to see me play, they most often drink wine. Doing wine was an easy fit and a natural extension of my music.”
Go with the Flo (Richard Barry/DC on Heels)
Similar to how wine is paired with food, Johnson and the Flo concept seeks to marry wine with music for a seamless experience of relaxation and mood. Flo currently features three wines, a red California blend, a California chardonnay and a California moscato. Blended in Northern California, Flo Wines, as President and Co-Founder Robert Piziali says, is not another “slap-on-label” celebrity brand. Johnson’s music and vision is very much at the center of these fruit driven wines which, like the music they compliment, appeal to both the beginner listener/sipper to the seasoned connoisseur.
Johnson setting the tone at Sips and Sounds (Richard Barry/DC on Heels)
In promotion of Flo Wines, Johnson will be hosting “Sips and Sounds” events like the one held recently at new H Street jazz joint The Elroy where guests can sample wine while savoring the smooth rhythms provided by Johnson himself. Keep on eye on the Flo homepage for upcoming events or check out this list of local stores carrying Flo to pick up a bottle yourself. To badly paraphrase Shakespeare, “If music be the drink of love, Flo on!”
