Rabbit's Blues
The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges
- Author: Chapman, Con
Con Chapman's biography of alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges catapults him into the pantheon of timeless jazz immortals...Chapman brings vibrant life to one of jazz's greatest altoists admired...
Rabbit's Blues
The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges
- Author: Chapman, Con
Purchase product
Con Chapman's biography of alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges catapults him into the pantheon of timeless jazz immortals...Chapman brings vibrant life to one of jazz's greatest altoists admired...
About
In his eulogy of saxophonist Johnny Hodges (1907-70), Duke Ellington ended with the words, "Never the world's most highly animated showman or greatest stage personality, but a tone so beautiful it sometimes brought tears to the eyesthis was Johnny Hodges. This is Johnny Hodges." Hodges' unforgettable tone resonated throughout the jazz world over the greater part of the twentieth century. Benny Goodman described Hodges as "by far the greatest man on alto sax that I ever heard," and Charlie Parker compared him to Lily Pons, the operatic soprano. As a teenager, Hodges developed his playing style by imitating Sidney Bechet, the New Orleans soprano sax player, then honed it in late-night cutting sessions in New York and a succession of bands lead by Chick Webb, Willie "The Lion" Smith, and Luckey Roberts. In 1928 he joined Duke Ellington, beginning an association that would continue, with one interruption, until Hodges' death. Hodges' celebrated technique and silky tone marked him then, and still today, as one of the most important and influential saxophone players in the history of jazz. As the first ever biography on Johnny Hodges, Rabbit's Blues details his place as one of the premier artists of the alto sax in jazz history, and his role as co-composer with Ellington.
Contents
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- 1. A Sax is Born
- 2. Young Man With a Sax
- 3. His Tone
- 4. Scuffling in New York
- 5. The Competition
- 6. The Partnership Begins
- 7. Women and Children
- 8. Outside the Ellington Constellation: 30's and 40's
- 9. The Small Groups
- 10. Swee' Pea
- 11. Blanton, Webster and the Forties
- 12. Food and Drink
- 13. The Coming of Bird
- 14. The Rabbit Strays
- 15. The Rabbit Returns
- 16. Outside the Ellington Constellation: 50's and 60's
- 17. The Quality of Song
- 18. Lagomorphology
- 19. The Blues
- 20. The Out Chorus
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
Awards and reviews
Con Chapman's biography of alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges catapults him into the pantheon of timeless jazz immortals...Chapman brings vibrant life to one of jazz's greatest altoists admired by everyone from Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and even Benny Goodman
