Two Great Sax Masters in their Prime
Johnny Hodges | Clark Fork, ID United States | 09/26/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is not Coleman Hawkins playing with Johnny Hodges, these are separate Paris sessions with the first 7 tracks from a '49 date with Coleman Hawkins and (presumedly) european artists on alto, trombone, bass, and piano and Kenny Clark on drums. Followed by 15 Hodges tracks from 3 1950 sessions backed by seven mostly Ellington alumni. (So why does Hawkins get top billing?)
The big issue here (hear) is the 24 bit remastering job. It is simply stunning. I have a LOT of CD's by both these incomperable artists, but this has quickly become a favorite. Each of these greatest saxophone players is known for a highly distinctive tone which is rendered truer here than any other CD's I've heard by either artist. Rather than process the bejeesis out of the masters to produce an overall pleasing sound, this is of the mess with it as little as possible while getting most of the noise out school.
While each of these players is well known for playing pretty, these tracks find both in an adventuresome frame of mind. While leaning heavily on standards, these trax COOK!
I'm not going to take the time to wax rhapsodic about Jeep and Hawk. If you like jazz and you're not already familiar with their work, then shame on you."
Track Listings (22) - Disc #1