Editing Johnny Hodges

{{Short description|American alto saxophonist (1907–1970)}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| name             = Johnny Hodges
| image            = Johnny Hodges and Al Sears, Aquarium, New York, ca. Nov. 1946 (William P. Gottlieb 04191).jpg
| caption          = Hodges playing a [[C.G. Conn|Conn 6M]] with [[Al Sears]] in background, 1946
| birth_name       = John Cornelius Hodges
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1907|7|25}}
| birth_place      = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], Massachusetts
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1970|5|11|1907|7|25}}
| death_place      = [[New York City]]
| genre            = {{flatlist|
* [[Jazz]]
* [[swing music|swing]]
}}
| occupation       = Musician
| instrument       = {{flatlist|
* [[Alto saxophone]]
* [[soprano saxophone]]
* [[clarinet]]
}}
| years_active     = 1924–1970
| associated_acts  = {{flatlist|
* [[Duke Ellington]]
* [[Benny Goodman]]
* [[Chick Webb]]
* [[Sidney Bechet]]
* [[Luckey Roberts]]
}}
}}

'''Johnny Hodges''' (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American [[alto saxophone|alto saxophonist]], best known for solo work with [[Duke Ellington]]'s big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on [[soprano saxophone]], but refused to play soprano after 1940.<ref>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=johnny-hodges-mn0000526407 |tab=biography |pure_url=yes}} |title=Johnny Hodges Biography |first=Scott |last=Yanow |author-link=Scott Yanow |publisher=[[All Media Network]] |work=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=January 28, 2025}}</ref> Along with [[Benny Carter]], Hodges is considered to be one of the definitive alto saxophone players of the [[Big band|big band era]].<ref name="Memory Lane">{{cite journal |last=Tumpak |first=John R. |year=2011 |title=Johnny Hodges: Sensual Musical Beauty |journal=Memory Lane |issue=172 |pages=41–42 |issn=0266-8033}}</ref>

After beginning his career as a teenager in Boston, Hodges began to travel to New York and played with [[Lloyd Scott (musician)|Lloyd Scott]], [[Sidney Bechet]], [[Luckey Roberts]] and [[Chick Webb]]. When Ellington wanted to expand his band in 1928, Ellington's clarinet player [[Barney Bigard]] recommended Hodges. His playing became one of the identifying voices of the Ellington orchestra. From 1951 to 1955, Hodges left the Duke to lead his own band, but returned shortly before Ellington's triumphant return to prominence – the orchestra's  performance at the 1956 [[Newport Jazz Festival]].

==Biography==

===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" />

===Duke Ellington===
Hodges joined Duke Ellington's orchestra in November 1928. He was one of the prominent Ellington Band members who featured in [[Benny Goodman]]'s 1938 [[The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert|Carnegie Hall concert]]. Goodman described Hodges as "by far the greatest man on alto sax that I ever heard."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Kingdom of Swing |url=https://archive.org/details/kingdomofswing00good |url-access=registration |last1=Goodman |first1=Benny |author-link1=Benny Goodman |last2=Kolodin |first2=Irving |author-link2=Irving Kolodin |year=1939 |publisher=Stackpole Sons |page=[https://archive.org/details/kingdomofswing00good/page/231 231] |asin=B000878B3S}}</ref>  [[Charlie Parker]] called him "the [[Lily Pons]] of his instrument."<ref>{{cite book |title=Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport '56 |last=Morton |first=John Fass |author-link=John Morton (actor) |year=2008 |publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]] |isbn=978-0813542829 |page=31 |url={{Google books|MaHTQu65gzcC|page=31|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref> [[John Coltrane]] considered Hodges his first model on the saxophone, even calling him “the world's greatest saxophone player.”<ref name="best jazz saxophonists">{{cite web | last=Smith | first=Geoffrey | title=Ranked: best jazz saxophonists of all time | website=Classical Music - Brought to you by BBC Music Magazine | date=20 June 2024 | url=https://www.classical-music.com/features/jazz/greatest-jazz-saxophonists-ever | access-date=25 July 2024}}</ref>
[[File:Johnny Hodges edit.jpg|thumb|left|In performance: Hodges with Ellington, Frankfurt, Germany, February 6, 1965.]]
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's smooth alto saxophone sound are "Magenta Haze", "[[Prelude to a Kiss (song)|Prelude to a Kiss]]", "Haupe" (from ''[[Anatomy of a Murder]]'') – also notable are the "seductive" and hip-swaying "Flirtibird", featuring the "irresistibly salacious tremor" by Hodges,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990120016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212210625/http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990120016 |archive-date=February 12, 2009 |last=Stryker |first=Mark |title=Ellington's score still celebrated |date=January 20, 2009 |newspaper=[[Detroit Free Press]] |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> "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".<ref name=chapman/>

He had a pure [[Timbre|tone]] and economy of melody on both the [[blues]] and [[ballad (music)|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''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/profiles/johnny_hodges.shtml |title=100 Jazz Profiles |work=[[BBC Radio 3]] |access-date=September 29, 2014}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2008/7/28/in-conversation-with-johnny-griffin |title=In Conversation with Johnny Griffin |first=Ted |last=Panken |author-link=Ted Panken |work=Jazz.com |date= April 18, 1990 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318025126/http://www.jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2008/7/28/in-conversation-with-johnny-griffin |archive-date=March 18, 2010 }}</ref>

==Saxophones==
In the 1940s, Hodges played a [[C.G. Conn#Carl D. Greenleaf and C.G. Conn, Ltd., 1915-1949|Conn 6M]] (recognizable by its octave-key mechanism being on the underside of the neck) and later on a [[Buescher Band Instrument Company#Saxophones|Buescher 400]] (recognizable by its V-shaped bell-brace) alto saxophone. By the end of his career in the late 1960s, Hodges was playing a Vito [[Leblanc (musical instrument manufacturer)|LeBlanc]] Rationale alto (serial number 2551A), an instrument with unusual key-mechanisms (providing various alternative fingerings) and tone-hole placement, which gave superior intonation. Fewer than 2,000 were ever made. Hodges's Vito saxophone was silver-plated and extensively engraved on the bell, bow, body and key-cups of the instrument.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://doctorsax.biz/vito_alto_2551A.htm |title=Hodges Vito Also |work=Doctor Sax |access-date=8 April 2016}}</ref>

==Death==
Hodges's last performances were at the [[Imperial Room]] in Toronto, less than a week before his May 11, 1970, 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]]'', which was only half-finished when he died. He was married twice; he had a daughter by his first wife, Bertha Pettiford, and a son (John C. Hodges II) and a daughter (Lorna Lee) by his second wife, Edith Cue.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EaYDAAAAMBAJ|title=Saxophonist Johnny Hodges Leaves $86,000 Estate To His Widow And Children.|date=December 28, 1972|work=JET|access-date=March 28, 2018}}</ref>

The loss of Hodges's sound prompted Ellington, upon learning of the musician's death from a heart attack, to lament to ''[[Jet (magazine)|JET]]'' magazine: "The band will never sound the same without Johnny." 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."<ref>{{cite book |title=Music Is My Mistress |last=Ellington |first=Duke |author-link=Duke Ellington |year=1973 |publisher=Da Capo |location=New York |isbn=0-306-80033-0 |page=119}}</ref>

==Discography==
===As leader or co-leader===
* 1946: ''Passion Flower'' (RCA)  <small>with [[Willie Cook]], [[Roy Eldridge]], [[Quentin Jackson]], [[Russell Procope]], [[Ben Webster]], [[Sam Woodyard]]</small>
* 1951: ''Caravan'' ([[Prestige Records|Prestige]]) <small> with [[Taft Jordan]], [[Shorty Baker|Harold Baker]], [[Juan Tizol]], [[Duke Ellington]], [[Billy Strayhorn]], [[Oscar Pettiford]], [[Sonny Greer]]</small>
* 1951–52: ''[[Castle Rock (album)|Castle Rock]]'' ([[Norgran Records|Norgran]])
* 1952: ''[[In a Tender Mood]]'' (Norgran)
* 1952–54: ''[[The Blues (Johnny Hodges album)|The Blues]]'' (Norgran)
* 1951–54: ''More of Johnny Hodges'' (Norgran)
* 1951–54: ''Memories of Ellington'' (Norgran), also released as ''In a Mellow Tone'' 
* 1954: ''[[Used to Be Duke]]'' (Norgran)
* 1952–55: ''[[Dance Bash (Johnny Hodges album)|Dance Bash]]'' (Norgran), also released as ''Perdido''
* 1955: ''[[Creamy (album)|Creamy]]'' (Norgran)
* 1956: ''[[Ellingtonia '56]]'' (Norgran)
* 1956: ''[[Duke's in Bed]]'' ([[Verve Records|Verve]])
* 1957: ''[[The Big Sound (Johnny Hodges album)|The Big Sound]]'' (Verve)
* 1958: ''[[Blues A-Plenty]]'' (Verve)
* 1958: ''[[Not So Dukish]]'' (Verve) 
* 1959: ''[[Johnny Hodges and His Strings Play the Prettiest Gershwin]]'' (Verve)
* 1959: ''[[Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues]]'' (Verve) with [[Duke Ellington]]
* 1959: ''[[Side by Side (Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges album)|Side by Side]]'' (Verve) with Duke Ellington
* 1960: ''[[A Smooth One]]'' (Verve)
* 1960: ''[[Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges]]'' (Verve) with [[Gerry Mulligan]]
* 1961: ''[[Blue Hodge]]'' (Verve) with [[Wild Bill Davis]]
* 1961: ''[[Johnny Hodges with Billy Strayhorn and the Orchestra]]'' (Verve) 
* 1961: ''Johnny Hodges at Sportpalast Berlin'' ([[Pablo Records|Pablo]]) <small> with [[Ray Nance]], [[Lawrence Brown (jazz trombonist)|Lawrence Brown]], [[Al Williams (pianist)|Al Williams]]</small>
* 1962: ''The Eleventh Hour'' (Verve) arranged and conducted by [[Oliver Nelson]]
* 1963: ''Buenos Aires Blues'' (Johnny Hodges Quintet with [[Lalo Schifrin]] on piano) 
* 1963: '' [[Sandy's Gone]]'' (Verve)
* 1963: ''[[Mess of Blues (Johnny Hodges and Wild Bill Davis album)|Mess of Blues]]'' (Verve) with Wild Bill Davis
* 1964: ''[[Everybody Knows Johnny Hodges]]'' ([[Impulse! Records|Impulse!]])
* 1964: ''[[Blue Rabbit]]'' (Verve) with Wild Bill Davis
* 1965: ''[[Con-Soul & Sax]]'' ([[RCA Victor]]) with Wild Bill Davis
* 1965: ''[[Joe's Blues (Johnny Hodges and Wild Bill Davis album)|Joe's Blues]]'' (Verve) with Wild Bill Davis
* 1965: ''[[Wings & Things]]'' (Verve) with Wild Bill Davis
* 1965: ''[[Inspired Abandon]]'' (Impulse!) with [[Lawrence Brown (jazz trombonist)|Lawrence Brown]]
* 1966: ''[[Stride Right]]'' (Verve) with [[Earl Hines]]
* 1966: ''[[Blue Pyramid (Johnny Hodges and Wild Bill Davis album)|Blue Pyramid]]'' (Verve) with Wild Bill Davis
* 1966: ''[[Wild Bill Davis & Johnny Hodges in Atlantic City]]'' (RCA Victor) with Wild Bill Davis
* 1966: ''[[Blue Notes (album)|Blue Notes]]'' (Verve)
* 1967: ''[[Triple Play (Johnny Hodges album)|Triple Play]]'' (RCA Victor)
* 1967: ''[[Don't Sleep in the Subway (album)|Don't Sleep in the Subway]]'' (Verve)
* 1967: ''[[Swing's Our Thing]]'' (Verve) with Earl Hines
* 1968: ''[[Rippin' & Runnin']]'' (Verve)
* 1970: ''[[3 Shades of Blue]]'' ([[Flying Dutchman Records|Flying Dutchman]]) with [[Leon Thomas]] and [[Oliver Nelson]]

===As sideman===
{{See also|Duke Ellington discography}}
:''Hodges was not a member of Ellington's Orchestra before 1928, or during 1951–55, or after May 11, 1970, when Hodges died. Duke Ellington's earliest recordings date from 1924 and he died on May 24, 1974. The two men's discographies thus match almost exactly, bar exceptions listed above and in this section.''
'''with [[Lawrence Brown (jazz trombonist)|Lawrence Brown]]'''
* ''[[Inspired Abandon]]'' (Impulse!, 1965) – billed as Lawrence Brown's All-Stars with Johnny Hodges
'''with [[Coleman Hawkins]]'''
*''[[Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive! At the Village Gate!]]'' (Verve, 1962)
'''with [[Joya Sherrill]]'''
*''[[Joya Sherrill Sings Duke]]'' (20th Century Fox, 1965)
'''with [[Billy Strayhorn]]'''
* ''[[Cue for Saxophone]]'' ([[Felsted Records|Felsted]], 1959)
'''with [[Billy Taylor]]'''
* ''[[Taylor Made Jazz]]'' ([[Argo Records|Argo]], 1959)
'''With [[Clark Terry]]'''
*''[[Duke with a Difference]]'' ([[Riverside Records|Riverside]], 1957)

==References==
{{commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Discogs artist|258460-Johnny-Hodges}}
*{{IMDb name|0388178}}
*{{Find a Grave|4727}}
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103184 Johnny Hodges recordings] at the [[Discography of American Historical Recordings]].

{{Johnny Hodges}}
{{Duke Ellington}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Johnny}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1970 deaths]]
[[Category:African-American saxophonists]]
[[Category:American jazz clarinetists]]
[[Category:American jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:American male saxophonists]]
[[Category:Duke Ellington Orchestra members]]
[[Category:American jazz alto saxophonists]]
[[Category:Mainstream jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:Mainstream jazz clarinetists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Swing clarinetists]]
[[Category:Swing saxophonists]]
[[Category:Vocalion Records artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American saxophonists]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members]]