Search - Johnny Hodges :: Quadromania

FINE JOHNNY HODGES 24-BIT REMASTERING FROM GERMANY

Philly Gal | Philadelphia, PA USA | 02/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 4-CD set is Quadromania Jazz Edition #222443. German recording companies frequently produce the best remasterings of our great American jazz artists and I, for one, am grateful for the fine quality of their products. This is our 8th addition of a Quadromania jazz masters recording from Membran Music, Hamburg, Germany, chosen for two reasons: the high-density (24-bit) format, and because of previous good experiences with Membran's output. The sound is clean and level, and Hodges' smooth alto sax is right there in the room with you.

John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1906 - May 11, 1970) made his name at a young age: he studied soprano sax under Sidney Bechet, and by 1928 at the age of 22, he was the lead sax player with the Duke Ellington orchestra, playing both alto and soprano sax. Ten years later (we're now talking about a still-young 32 year old man) Hodges was lead sax in the legendary 1938 Benny Goodman concert. Goodman proclaimed that Hodges was "the greatest man on alto sax I ever heard." His sudden death from a heart attack just short of his 64th birthday was an irrecoverable loss to the jazz world. There has been no equal since.

The tracks on this 4-cd set are from 1947-1953 Hodges recordings in New York, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. Most are sessions are of the Johnny Hodges All-Stars (with Billy Strayhorn on Piano), or of Johnny Hodges and His Orchestra (with Leroy Lovett and Ted Brannon on piano).

Two notable and very pleasing exceptions are:

(1) Tracks 6, 7 & 8 on Disc 3 (#'s 44, 45 & 46 in Amazon's listing) - A May 18, 1951 performance in Boston with the Billy Strayhorn All-Stars, of "Britt And Butter Blues", "Indian Summer " and "Swamp Drum".

(2) Track 9 on Disc 3 (# 47 in Amazon's list) - A June 19, 1951 performance in New York with the Duke Ellington All-Stars of "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" .

The track list by Amazon is sequentially correct, although it is not divided amongst the 4 discs, where each disc index starts again at Track 1. Here's how the discs really play:

DISC 1:

1. Frisky

2. Longhorn Blues

3. A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing

4. Far Away Blues

5. How Could It Happen To A Dream

6. Who Struck John?

7. June's Jumpin'

8. Lotus Blossom

9. Violet Blue

10. Searsy's Blues

11. A Little Taste

12. Let The Zoomers Drool

13. Jump, That's All

14. Last Legs Blues Pt. 2

15. Nix It, Mix It

16. Time On My Hands

17. Night Walk

18. She

19. Happenning

20. Moonlight Fiesta

DISC 2:

1. Run About

2. Wishing And Waiting

3. Gat That Geet

4. That's Grand

5. Skip It

6. Perdido

7. Mood Indigo

8. In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree

9. Bean Bag Boogie

10. Sweet Lorraine

11. Hop, Skip And Jump

12. Rabbit's Blues

13. Something To Paid Your Foot For

14. Blue Fantasia

15. My Reward

16. Good Queen Bess

17. Jeep's Blues

18. Solitude

DISC 3:

1. Jeep Is Jumpin'

2. Castle Rock

3. Sophisticated Lady

4. Globe Trotter

5. A Gentle Breeze

6. Britt And Butter Blues

7. Indian Summer

8. Swamp Drum

9. Jumpin' With Symphony Sid

1. Sideways

11. A Pound Of Blues

12. Wham

13. Who's Excited

14. Sweeping The Blues Away

15. Day Dream

16. Standing Room Only

17. Below The Azores

DISC 4:

1. Duke's Blues

2. Tenderly

3. Tea For Two

4. Sweet Georgia Brown

5. What I'm Gotchere

6. Nothin' Yet

7. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good

8. This Is My Night To Love

9. Hodge Podge

10. This Love Of Mine

11. Jappa

12. Rosanne

13. Through For The Night

14. Come Sunday

15. Sheik Of Araby

16. Latino

17. Indiana

18. Johnny's Blues

19. Easy Going Bounce

"