Editing Johnny Hodges (section)

===Early life===
John Cornelius Hodges was born in the Cambridgeport neighborhood of [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], to John H. Hodges and Katie Swan Hodges, both originally from [[Virginia]].<ref name="Memory Lane" /> After moving for a short period of time to North Cambridge,<ref name=chapman/> the family moved to Hammond Street in the South End of [[Boston]], where he grew up with saxophonists [[Harry Carney]] (who would also become a long-term member of Duke Ellington’s big band), [[Charlie Holmes]] and [[Howard E. Johnson]]. His first instruments were drums and piano. While his mother was a skilled piano player, Hodges was mostly [[Autodidacticism|self-taught]].<ref name="Memory Lane" />

Once he became good enough, he played the piano at dances in private homes for $8 an evening.<ref name="Memory Lane" /> He had taken up the [[soprano saxophone]] by his teens. It was around this time that Hodges developed the nickname "Rabbit", which some people believe arose from his ability to win 100-yard dashes and outrun truant officers, while others, including Carney, said he was called by that name because of his rabbit-like nibbling on lettuce and tomato sandwiches.<ref name="Memory Lane" /><ref name=chapman>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6CgDwAAQBAJ|title=Rabbit's Blues: The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780190653903|location=Oxford, New York|first=Con|last=Chapman|date=September 2, 2019}}</ref>

When Hodges was 14, he went with his eldest sister to see [[Sidney Bechet]] play in Jimmy Cooper's ''Black and White Revue'' in a Boston burlesque hall.<ref name="Memory Lane" /> Hodges's eldest sister introduced him to Bechet, who asked him to play something on the soprano saxophone he had brought with him.  Hodges played "My Honey's Lovin' Arms" for Bechet, who was impressed with his skill and encouraged him to keep on playing and would also give Hodges formal saxophone lessons. Hodges built a name for himself in the Boston area before moving to [[New York City]] in 1924.<ref name="Memory Lane" />