Marc Johnson was born October 21, 1953, in Omaha, Nebraska, and took up bass at sixteen after already studying piano and cello. While completing his formal education at the University of North Texas, he began performing professionally with the Fort Worth Symphony at nineteen. A stint with Woody Herman's band brought him to New York City, where a chance to sit in with pianist Bill Evans at the Village Vanguard proved a turning point in his career.

In 1978 Johnson joined Evans's trio, remaining until the pianist's death two years later, and rose to prominence in the jazz world as the bassist in Bill Evans's final trio. He appears on numerous Evans recordings, including the Grammy-winning We Will Meet Again. After Evans's death he worked with Stan Getz (1981-1982) and guitarist John Abercrombie (1983) before forming his own group, Bass Desires, in 1985. His later catalog includes the duets album Two by Four (1991), Sound of Summer Running (1998), and Shades of Jade (2005).

Johnson's tenure as bassist in Bill Evans's final trio gave him a direct lineage to one of jazz piano's most influential figures, and his subsequent work with Stan Getz, John Abercrombie, and his own Bass Desires project established him as one of the most versatile and widely respected bassists of the post-Evans generation.