Editing Johnny Dodds (section)

==Biography==
Dodds was born in [[Waveland, Mississippi]]. His childhood environment was a musical one.{{sfn|Dicaire|2003|p=39}} His father and uncle were violinists, his sister played a [[Diatonic button accordion|melodeon]], and in adolescence Johnny sang high tenor in the family quartet.{{sfn|Lambert|1961|p=3}} According to legend, his instrumental skill began with a toy flute which had been purchased for his brother, [[Warren "Baby" Dodds]].{{sfn|Lambert|1961|p=3}} He was known for his serious and reserved manner as well as his "funky blues playing," which earned him the nickname "toilet."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|pages=20}}</ref>

He moved to New Orleans in his youth and studied the clarinet with [[Lorenzo Tio]] and Charlie McCurdy.{{sfn|Lambert|1961|p=4}}{{sfn|Dicaire|2003|p=39}} He played with the bands of [[Frankie Duson]], [[Kid Ory]],{{sfn|Lambert|1961|p=5}} and [[Joe "King" Oliver]].{{sfn|Lambert|1961|p=6}}{{sfn|Dicaire|2003|p=39}} Dodds went to Chicago and played with Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, with which he first recorded in 1923. Dodds blamed the breakup on not wanting to travel and on musical conflicts due to Oliver's failing musical abilities.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|pages=116}}</ref> He also worked frequently with his good friend [[Natty Dominique]] during this period, a professional relationship that would last a lifetime. After the breakup of Oliver's band in 1924, Dodds replaced [[Alcide Nunez]] as the house clarinetist and bandleader of [[Kelly's Stables (Chicago)|Kelly's Stables]].{{sfn|Lambert|1961|p=9}} From 1924 to 1930, Dodds worked regularly at Kelly's Stables in Chicago.{{sfn|Dicaire|2003|p=39}} He recorded with numerous small groups in Chicago, including Louis Armstrong's [[Hot Five]] and [[Hot Seven]] and Jelly Roll Morton's [[Red Hot Peppers]]. He also recorded prolifically under his own name, Johnny Dodds' Black Bottom Stompers, between 1927 and 1929 for [[Paramount Records|Paramount]], Brunswick/Vocalion, and Victor. He became a big star on the Chicago jazz scene of the 1920s, but his career precipitously declined with the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]].{{sfn|Dicaire|2003|pp=39-40}} Although his career gradually recovered,{{sfn|Dicaire|2003|p=40}} he did not record for most of the 1930s, affected by ill-health; he recorded only two sessions—January 21, 1938, and June 5, 1940—both for [[Decca Records|Decca]]. On August 8, 1940, Dodds died of a stroke in his Chicago home<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spencer |first1=Frederick J. |title=Jazz and Death: Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats |date=2002 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi}}</ref> and was buried at [[Lincoln Cemetery (Cook County)|Lincoln Cemetery]] in Blue Island, Illinois.

[[File:Grave of Johnny Dodds (1892–1940) at Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, IL.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Dodds' grave at Lincoln Cemetery]]

Known for his professionalism and virtuosity as a musician and his heartfelt, heavily blues-laden style, Dodds was an important influence on later clarinetists, such as [[Benny Goodman]],{{sfn|Lambert|1961|p=16}} who stated that no one ever surpassed Dodds in achieving a finer tone with the clarinet.{{sfn|Lambert|1961|p=16}} The tone was probably caused by the use of double embouchure (lower and upper lips over the mouthpiece) in combination with a very hard reed (a thin piece of cane resting against the mouthpiece) according to CDK Cook in the Syncophated Times May 10, 2020. Dodds was inducted into the ''[[DownBeat]]'' Jazz Hall of Fame in 1987.{{sfn|Dicaire|2003|p=42}}