From the very start alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges cultivated what many regard as the most exquisite tone jazz has ever known on his instrument, shaping his approach early and seeing scant reason to alter it across the decades that followed. Although fully capable of driving swing ensembles and deeply authoritative on the blues, he achieved an unmatched warmth when playing ballads that has remained unequaled. He began on drums and piano before taking up the soprano saxophone at age fourteen. Sidney Bechet provided both instruction and inspiration, yet Hodges soon made the alto his principal voice and, after 1940, set the soprano aside for good. Prior to that decision he gained experience with Lloyd Scott, Chick Webb, Luckey Roberts, and Willie “The Lion” Smith in 1924, and he also worked directly with Bechet. His true professional path opened in 1928 upon joining Duke Ellington’s orchestra. He rapidly emerged as one of the band’s foremost solo voices and a defining stylist on alto, facing meaningful rivalry only from Benny Carter throughout the 1930s. Countless Ellington performances spotlighted his playing, and he frequently directed recording sessions that drew on Ellington’s other musicians. Whether interpreting “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be,” “Come Sunday,” or “Passion Flower,” he proved an essential presence in the orchestra of the 1930s and ’40s. His departure in 1951 to front his own group therefore came as a surprise. The new ensemble scored an immediate success with “Castle Rock,” a track that ironically highlighted tenor saxophonist Al Sears while featuring little from Hodges himself; despite that hit the band faltered and disbanded in 1955. His return to Ellington proved jubilant, and he remained thereafter. During the 1960s he recorded several dates alongside organist Wild Bill Davis, an association that briefly brought Davis into Ellington’s ranks in 1969. Still a member of the Ellington orchestra, Johnny Hodges died suddenly in 1970, his steadfast style continuing to sound contemporary to the end.
