Johnny and the Sax

by Barbara McMahon

Title

Johnny and the Sax

Artist

Barbara McMahon

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

John Keith "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1906 - May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington's big band.

He was one of the prominent Ellington Band members who featured in Benny Goodman's legendary 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. Goodman described Hodges as "by far the greatest man on alto sax. that I ever heard." Charlie Parker called him "the Lily Pons of his instrument."
Ellington's practice of writing tunes specifically for members of his orchestra resulted in the Hodges specialties, "Confab with Rab", "Jeep's Blues", "Sultry Sunset", and "Hodge Podge". Other songs recorded by the Ellington Orchestra which prominently feature Hodges' smooth alto saxophone sound are "Magenta Haze", "Prelude to a Kiss", "Haupe" (from Anatomy of a Murder) note also the "seductive" and hip-swaying Flirtibird, featuring the "irresistibly salacious tremor" by Hodges, "The Star-Crossed Lovers" from Ellington's Such Sweet Thunder suite, "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)", "Blood Count" and "Passion Flower".
Generations of saxophonists turn to 1963 recording The Great Paris Concert, in which Hodges' lyrical poise is captured well, particularly on "On the Sunny Side of the Street".
He had a pure tone and economy of melody on both the blues and ballads that won him admiration from musicians of all eras and styles, from Ben Webster and John Coltrane, who both played with him when he had his own orchestra in the 1950s, to Lawrence Welk, who featured him in an album of standards. His highly individualistic playing style, which featured the use of a wide vibrato and much sliding between slurred notes, was frequently imitated. As evidenced by the Ellington compositions named after him, he earned the nicknames Jeep and Rabbit according to Johnny Griffin because "he looked like a rabbit, no expression on his face while he's playing all this beautiful music."
Hodges' last performances were at the Imperial Room in Toronto, less than a week before his death from a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack],suffered during a visit to the office of a dental surgeon. His last recordings are featured on the New Orleans Suite album, incomplete on his death.
In Ellington's eulogy of Hodges, he said, "Never the world's most highly animated showman or greatest stage personality, but a tone so beautiful it sometimes brought tears to the eyes this was Johnny Hodges. This is Johnny Hodges."

Thank you for viewing and reading. Barbara McMahon

Uploaded

July 7th, 2012

Statistics

Viewed 3,269 Times  -  Last Visitor from Cambridge, MA on 04/25/2024 at 7:29 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags