WATERLOO - When the landlord didn't hear Allan Johnson moving around or playing one of his many guitars she went to check on the old jazz musician who lived upstairs on Sunday.

She found Johnson sick in bed, and he rebuffed all offers of help. When she checked again Monday morning Johnson was dead.

He looked like Rod Stewart, played guitar like Django Reinhardt, sang in four languages, loved to tell stories and charmed audiences with his Jazz Caf� Noire shows - but Johnson has played his last gig. He was 70.

Johnson had a loyal following of fans in this region, but when the police arrived at his apartment Monday morning, nobody knew who to call. The officers found the name and phone number for his musical partner - Robert Reid. They called Reid, and he called one of Johnson's siblings with the sad, sudden news.

"It's a big hole in my life, for five years we have been like brothers, musically and personally," says Reid. "It's still a big shock."

Reid and Johnson played together at Caf� 22, Timeless Materials Caf�, The Easy Pour Wine Bar, The Jazz Room, the Causerie, retirement homes and elsewhere.

Reid says when he first saw Johnson in downtown Kitchener, he wanted to ask him about forming a Rod Stewart tribute band. Johnson had an uncanny resemblance to the famous rocker.

When he's not gigging or doing studio work, Reid teaches guitar at Tri-City Music. A few days later Johnson was in the shop playing some of the guitars. Reid sat near him, and played along.

"We played two or three songs together," he recalls.

Johnson asked Reid to play a gig with him later that week, and they've played together ever since. Reid lost count of the times passersby stopped Johnson asking to take pictures, thinking he was Rod Stewart.

"Even when he told them: 'I am not Rod Stewart,' they wanted their picture with him anyway," says Reid.

Johnson's mother died last fall at 99. He was close to her, visiting once a week for dinner. He was a regular, well-dressed sight on King Street. His favourite coffee shop was Matter of Taste in downtown Kitchener. He lived in Uptown Waterloo and hardly ever missed a show at The Jazz Room up the street from his apartment.

"He was special," says Deb Trendle, Allan's sister. "It's a shock to us right now."

Johnson also has two brothers - Ken and Gary.

Born and raised in Waterloo Region, Johnson started playing guitar in high school, and never stopped. For years he talked about going to Paris and playing music in the French capital. Just a few weeks ago he was talking about making the long-planned trip later this spring.

"Music was his life," says Paul Moser, a first cousin.

"He could sing in French, which I didn't know until I went to see him at The Jazz Room a couple of times," says Moser. "He had an amazing French voice."

He also sang in Spanish and Portuguese.

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"I am just shocked," says Stephanie Rozek, a cofounder of the Marit Collective, which runs the community and performance venue called The Causerie. Johnson loved playing there.

"He was so supportive and loving, he was a fantastic person," says Rozek. "And I am so sad he is not going to Paris. We talked about it lots."

She was an instant fan after hearing Johnson perform at The Jazz Room several years ago. He did not keep a TV in his apartment, and spent most of him time playing, practising and researching music.

At some point Johnson learned fencing, and actually gave lessons to Bruce Cockburn, says Gary Johnson, a younger brother. He also played rhythm guitar and sang in the Stonechurch Blues Band in the early 1970s, opening for Yes and for Johnny Winter.

"He was a bit of a dreamer, but talented," says his brother Gary. "When he put his mind to doing something musically he always did it."

Johnson got into jazz less than 20 years ago.

"He was always a musician, right from high school. He never really did anything else," says Gary. "He never really had a conventional job."

Gary says the family is planning a private funeral service.

tpender@therecord.com

Twitter: @PenderRecord