Johnny Hodges - The Complete Verve Johnny Hodges Small Group Sessions 1956-61 Album

With another 200 miles of ribbon straight highway in front of me I pulled off for lunch. I quietly said, “Hi” to the guy sitting in the booth behind me. Perhaps I looked a bit burned from the road, or perhaps a bit confused from the jazz that had been running though my head, because he asked me if I was alright. “Yes,” I replied as I turned to face him, “I think I picked the wrong music for my trip is all, too many hard edges are keeping me from settling down and locking into a driving groove.” I was a bit surprised when he asked which jazz selections I was listening to. “Larry Young’s middle years,” I said just as the waitress arrived. As soon as she was gone the guy says, “Don’t move, I’ll be right back.” By the time he’d returned, my burger and fries were sittin’ on the table, and I was preparing a dipping area for the catsup. “Do you mind,” he asked? And moved his food over to my table while saying, “I’m a long haul trucker, been on the road for two weeks straight,” and slid a Johnny Hodges’ CD across the table asking, “You know this guy?” “He exists on those fragile upper jazz branches, somewhere between jazz, blues, and swing. He’s got a subdued quality about his notes, nothing pretentious, nothing to prove, solid instrumentation, occasional mellow vocals, and rolls on and on without being relentless, just hangs there in the air, not quite physical, not quite etherial, more like the man got himself lost in time.” As he was talking I was looking at the disc, and it wasn’t one disc, it was six, The Complete Verve Johnny Hodges Small Group Sessions from 1956 through 1961. My new trucker friend, who’s name I learned was Arthur, and from Russia, went on to say that Johnny had played with Duke Ellington, and here he was using several of the Duke’s sidemen, Ray Nance, Shorty Baker and Clark Terry on trumpet, trombonists Lawrence Brown and Booty Wood, Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet, Billy Strayhorn and Harry Carney as baritonists, bassist Ray Brown, drummer Jo Jones, pianists Russ Freeman, Jimmy Jones and Lou Levy, tenorman Jimmy Forest, along with a host of non-Ellington cats too long to list. Hodges is at his very best here with great solos, fast vibratos, swelling tones and enough surprises that he could stop a Mack in its tracks. Everyone is totally controlled, even Evans, known for his screaming, and the rasping style of Webster are smoothed over with precision and integrity, making this a delight, if not a must, for the open road.” With that he went back to his burger, leaving me to turn all he’d said over in my head. “Thanks,” I said, “I’ll pick this up soon as I can.” “Keep it girl, here’s my number, perhaps we’ll meet out here on the road again, and you can slide it back.” A couple of months ago I found his number tucked inside of the boxed set and dialed it. There was no answer, just a disembodied voice saying that the number was no longer in service. Anyway, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.Review by Jenell Kesler

Great story ,Jenell! I do love this Johnny Hodges box set