“You ever drink any cool, clean spring water? You can add things to it, make lemonade, beer, coffee, or what have you, but when you’re thirsty it’s hard to beat it just as it is. And it’s probably better for you than the kind hyped up with chlorine. Well, to me, Johnny [Hodges] was like that spring water – the real thing, unadulterated. He didn’t change either. Maybe he added ideas as he went along, but he was always true to himself.”
–Earl “Fatha” Hines
Johnny Hodges interviewed by Willis Conover in 1955
From the Oxford University Press Blog – Seven Things You Don’t Know About Johnny Hodges
The recordings heard on this podcast episode:
Rabbit’s Blues (CD: “The Best of Johnny Hodges” Worten Jazz 221 407-205)
Recorded 15 January 1951
Nelson Williams – trumpet; Lawrence Brown – trombone; Johnny Hodges – alto sax; Al Sears – tenor sax; Leroy Lovett – piano; Al McKibbon – bass; Sonny Greer – drums; Billy Strayhorn – arranger.
Wabash Blues (CD: “Back to Back” Verve Records 521 404-2)
Recorded 20 February 1959, New York City
Harry “Sweets” Edison – trumpet; Johnny Hodges – alto sax; Duke Ellington – piano; Les Spann – guitar; Al Hall – bass; Jo Jones – drums.
The Giddybug Gallop (CD: “Highlights of the Great 1940-1942 Band” Avid AMSC1143)
Recorded 5 June 1941, Los Angeles
Wallace Jones, Ray Nance, Rex Stewart – trumpet; Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton, Juan Tizol – trombone; Otto Hardwicke, Johnny Hodges, Barney Bigard, Ben Webster, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Fred Guy – guitar; Jimmie Blanton – bass; Sonny Greer – drums.
Jeep’s Blues (CD: “The Duke’s Men, Volume 2” Columbia Jazz Masterpieces C2K 48835)
Recorded 28 March 1938, New York City
Cootie Williams – trumpet; Lawrence Brown – trombone; Johnny Hodges, Otto Hardwicke, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Billy Taylor – bass; Sonny Greer – drums.
The Jeep Is Jumpin’
Recorded 24 August 1938, New York City
Same personnel as “Jeep’s Blues”
Blood Count (CD: “The Jaywalker” Storyville Records 101 8390)
Recorded 23 June 1967, Los Angeles
Cootie Williams, Cat Anderson, Herbie Jones, Mercer Ellington – trumpet; Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper, Chuck Connors – trombone; Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope, Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; John Lamb – bass; Chris Columbus – drums.