DONALDSONVILLE — Jazz saxophonist and Donaldsonville native Plas Johnson has died.

According to KJAZZ 88.1, he was 94 years old when he died on July 15, only six days before his 95th birthday.

Johnson was a session musician on several legendary musicians' records, including recordings from Peggy Lee, Nat "King" Cole, Glen Gray and Frank Sinatra.

Johnson and his brother, pianist Ray Johnson, started their careers in the late 1940s in New Orleans before they moved to Los Angeles in 1954.

During his career in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was a regular member of Henry Mancini's studio orchestra. It was during this period that Mancini wrote "The Pink Panther Theme" with Johnson in mind. 

Johnson has been memorialized in downtown Donaldsonville's Jazz Plaza along Railroad Avenue.