If I could have been guaranteed that I would play the alto sax like Johnny Hodges, I would have chose that instrument to take up and play. Unfortunately, only Johnny Hodges could sound like Johnny Hodges, so I chose the tenor.
Why? It’s one of those freaks of nature that someone like “the L illy Pons of Jazz” could sigh so gloriously on a sax, and those glissandos! Forget about it!
Yes, he is best known for his decades with Duke Ellington’s Orchestra, but he did branch off for a few years, and put out some impressive albums of his own. His 1958 debut with Verve has Hodges teamed with fellow Ellingtonian Ben Webster on the tenor, and they do wonders as stablemates on the swinging “Jeep Bounced Back” and the title track “Not So Dukish”. A pair of small group reunions with The Duke himself result in two absolute classic albums, with Hodges bouncing with delight on standards like “Wabash Blues” in a sextet with Harry “Sweets” Edison and in a slightly large set with Ben Webster again for a fun “Stompy Jones” while Hodges oozes out “Just Squeeze Me’” . It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but a meeting with baritonist Gerry Mulligan is also a winner with the horns glistening and interwinding on “Bunny” and “Back Beat”. Hodges fronts Billy Strayhorn’s orchestra for a return to Ellingtonia on his signature tune “Jeep’s Blues” as well as “Day Dream”. Hodges then switches gears and genres, joining together with organist Wild Bill Davis for a trio of albums, all wonderfully bluesy as on “Blue Hodge”, “Hodge Podge”, Candy’s Theme” and a dreamy “Lost In Meditation”.
If your alto world starts with Charlie Parker, get ready for a whole new world.