Side By Side

Johnny Hodges’ alto saxophone—one of the great jazz voices of the 20th century—was central to the sound of Ellington’s legendary big band. On this 1959 release Hodges and Ellington are joined by several other major players, including Harry “Sweets” Edison, Jo Jones, Roy Eldridge and Ben Webster. (Three tracks feature a sextet and the other six have a septet.) The Duke only appears on three songs (“Stompy Jones”, “Just Squeeze Me (But Don’t Tease Me)” and “Going Up”) and the wonderful Billy Strayhorn plays piano on the rest. Ellington’s jabbing piano chords open “Stompy Jones”, which displays Hodges’ delightfully distinctive tone in an ace solo. “Going Up” has a more modern feel than other cuts here: guitarist Les Spann turns in some nice flute work, Ellington’s piano takes surprising twists and turns, and Hodges is excellent. Both section and solo playing shine on Mercer Ellington and Hodges’ “Ruint”. The album closes with “You Need to Rock”, a jump blues that finds a Webster solo that moves from silky-smooth to rough, and a bluesy, finely-shaped statement by Hodges.