Art Hodes

Throughout his extensive professional life, Art Hodes championed traditional jazz by means of his singular piano style, an array of articles and liner notes, plus appearances on radio and educational television. He earned particular acclaim for the emotional depth he brought to blues material, although his left-hand chordings, delivered squarely on the beat, could generate comparable excitement on brisk numbers. Emigrating from Russia as an infant of six months with his family, he was raised in Chicago, where he absorbed the city’s flourishing jazz scene of the 1920s and drew instruction from fellow pianists. His first session occurred in 1928 alongside Wingy Manone, yet he remained largely unnoticed in Chicago through most of the 1930s before relocating to New York in 1938. Engagements with Joe Marsala and Mezz Mezzrow preceded the formation of his own ensemble in 1941. Between 1939 and 1942 he cut sides for Solo Art, his own Jazz Record imprint, Signature, Decca, and Black & White, but achieved greater impact with the vigorous Dixieland dates he made for Blue Note in 1944–1945, later collected in a Mosaic box set. From 1943 to 1947 he edited the influential periodical the Jazz Record, conducted a radio program, and entered the moldy fig versus bebop debates against Leonard Feather and Barry Ulanov, an exchange ultimately decided in bebop’s favor. Returning to Chicago in 1950, he sustained an active local presence while issuing sporadic recordings, hosted the television series Jazz Alley during the 1960s, contributed to Downbeat, and served as a jazz educator. Frequent sessions continued through the 1970s and 1980s, by which time Hodes was acknowledged as one of the final living links to early Chicago jazz; his later work appeared on Audiophile, Jazzology, Delmark, Storyville, Euphonic, Muse, Parkwood, Candid, and Music & Arts.