Alphonso Johnson early in his career, toured and recorded at first with the "Woody Herman Orchestra" and then with the "Chuck Mangione Quartet". Subsequently, Johnson joined Weather Report and worked with them between 1974 and 1975. In Weather Report, Johnson replaced Miroslav Vitous who had left the band. In the middle 70s Johnson started his solo career and published his first album called "Moonshadows" (1975). In that years, he collaborated also with Billy Cobham, Tom Scott , Steve Khan and with the Crusaders. At the begin of the 80s, Johnson began to collaborate with Carlos Santana, he played on the albums "Beyond Appearances" (1985), "Freedom" (1987), "Blues for Salvador" (1987), "Viva Santana!" (1988) and "Spirits Dancing in the Flesh" (1990). since the early 90, Johnson collaborated with several musicians and pursued his solo career. Notable is that Johnson was one of the first musicians to introduce the Chapman Stick to the public.