CD1
Once Upon a Time
1. Once Upon A Time
2. Black And Tan Fantasy
3. Fantastic, That's You
4. Cotton Tail
5. The Blues In My Flat
6. You Can Depend On Me
7. Hash Brown
Johnny Hodges – Alto sax
Earl Hines - Piano
Cat Anderson – Trumpet
Ray Nance – Trumpet (tracks 1-6)
Clark Terry, Bill Berry – Trumpet (track 1)
Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper – Trombone
Russell Procope – Alto sax
Jimmy Hamilton – Tenor sax, clarinet
Pee Wee Russell – Clarinet (tracks 2, 5-7)
Paul Gonsalves, Harold Ashby – Tenor sax
Richard Davis – Bass (tracks 1, 3-6)
Aaron Bell – Bass (tracks 2, 7)
Sonny Greer, Elvin Jones - Drums
Stride Right
8. Caution Blues [Blues In Thirds]
9. Stride Right
10. Rosetta
11. Perdido
12. Fantastic, That's You
13. Tale Of The Fox
14. I'm Beginning To See The Light
15. C Jam Blues
16. Tippin' In
Johnny Hodges – Alto sax
Earl Hines - Piano
Kenny Burrell – Guitar
Richard Davis – Bass
Joe Marshall – Drums
CD2
Swing’s Our Thing
1.Open Ears
2. Mean To Me
3. Doll Valley
4. Can A Moose Crochet?
5. One Night in Trinidad
6. Night Train to Memphis
7. Bustin' with Buster
8. Over The Rainbow
9. Do It Yourself
10. The Cannery Walk
Johnny Hodges – Alto sax
Earl Hines – Piano
Cat Anderson – Trumpet
Buster Cooper – Trombone
Jimmy Hamilton – Clarinet, tenor sax
Jeff Castleman – Bass
Sam Woodyard - Drums
Tracks 11-16
11. Blues On My Weary Mind
12. Design Your Jivin'
13. I'll Get By
14. I Love My Lovin' Lover
15. Life With Fatha
16. Trouble, Trouble
Johnny Hodges – Alto sax
Earl Hines – Piano
Ray Nance – Trumpet, violin
Flip Phillips – Tenor sax
Al Casey – Guitar
Oscar Pettiford – Bass
Sidney Catlett – Drums
Betty Roche – Vocals (tracks 11, 13, 14, 16)??
Tracks 17-21
17. Duke's Place
18. Disillusion Blues
19. Welcome to Ne York
20. Rockin' in Rhythm
21. It's A Glory ?
Johnny Hodges – Alto sax
Earl Hines – Piano
Ernie Royal, Marvin Stamm, Randy Brecker, Snooky Young – Trumpet
Al Grey, Quentin Jackson, Garnett Brown, Tom Mitchell – Trombone
Bob Ashton, Jerome Richardson, Danny Bank, Jerry Dodgion, Frank Wess – Reeds
David Spinozza – Guitar
Ron Carter – Bass
Grady Tate - Drums
Leon Thomas – Vocals (tracks 17-19)
Oliver Nelson - Arranger, conductor?
This double CD contains the three LPs that altoist Johnny Hodges made with pianist Earl Hines, plus six tracks recorded by them in 1944 for the Apollo
label and five more taped in 1970 – shortly before Hodges died.
In some ways Hodges and Hines may seem to represent different styles of jazz.
Hodges is the lyrical player, with a smooth sound that seems heavenly.
Hines, on the other hand, generally has a two-fisted approach to the
piano which has often been described as “orchestral” or “trumpet style”.
Yet both men came to prominence in the 1920s, and Hodges contrasts
effectively with Hines’ more rugged approach. And Hines often moderates
his playing so that he doesn’t overpower Hodges. Altogether, this
is an interesting mix, especially as the duo is joined on several
tracks by musicians like Kenny Burrell who might be considered to
be “modernists”.
The first LP – Once Upon a Time from 1966 – surrounds the pair with
a host of Ellingtonians, including a wild Clark Terry on the title-track.
Earl plays a chorus as an introduction to this first track, and he
stamps his authority on Black And Tan Fantasy with a restrained
but telling solo, matching the varied contributions of such individuals
as Pee Wee Russell and Lawrence Brown. Fantastic, That’s You
is played simply by a quartet, with Jimmy Hamilton’s limpid clarinet
stating the theme, book-ending a placid solo from Earl. Elvin Jones’s
heavy off-beats are rather unsubtle here.
The coming together of generations is illustrated in Cotton Tail by the rapid interchanges between Earl Hines and tenorist Paul Gonsalves. Pee Wee
Russell’s distinctive clarinet opens The Blues In My Flat, which has emotional vocals from Ray Nance. Earl Hines begins his own composition You Can Depend On Me with a couple of elegant choruses. The LP closes with Hash Brown, written by Johnny Hodges and given vigorous
movement by Paul Gonsalves, Earl Hines, Sonny Greer and Hodges himself.
The next LP – Stride Right from 1966 – is by a stripped-down quintet. The symbiosis between the players is shown in the alto/guitar unison which
starts Tale Of The Fox and in C Jam Blues, where Hines’ piano seems to dominate, thus stimulating Hodges, whose buoyant alto is a
pleasure throughout. Richard Davis and Joe Marshall keep the rhythm moving consistently. And it is good to hear Earl Hines playing Caution Blues
(better know as Blues in Thirds), which he recorded memorably as a solo and later re-recorded in a trio with Sidney Bechet and Baby Dodds.
The third LP – Swing’s Our Thing from 1967 – uses another small group, this time consisting entirely of Ellingtonians (except for Earl Hines). On
this album, I felt that Hines was almost in a world of his own at times, improvising very freely and often as if he was playing solo piano. This actually
lifts the session out of the ordinary, as Earl’s piano solos often contain something unexpected, and he creates complex counter-melodies behind the other
musicians. Note, for instance, his flowery decorations in Night Train To Memphis. Highlights of the LP include Doll Valley (with a neat
dialogue between Jimmy Hamilton and Buster Cooper); Earl’s composition One Night In Trinidad (which the sleeve-note aptly describes as
“languorous”); and Buster Cooper’s interpretation of Over The Rainbow, with a sublime middle eight by Johnny Hodges.
Tracks 11 to 16 of the second CD were originally released in 1944 as three 78-rpm discs. Singer Betty Roche is featured on four of the tracks, which are
mostly bluesy songs. In between there are good solos from tenorist Flip Phillips on Design For Jivin’ and Life With Fatha. The sound
quality is about average for the period but clangorous in parts.
The last five tracks come from the 1970 album Three Shades of Blue and they are the only tracks on that album that included Earl Hines. Leon
Thomas sings and scats wildly on the first three tracks. Johnny Hodges solos imposingly on Duke’s Place and Welcome To New York, backed
by a swinging big band skilfully arranged by Oliver Nelson. Sadly, Earl Hines doesn’t get much solo space. Nonetheless, this double CD puts together a
wealth of fine work by both Hodges and Hines, backed by some first-rate colleagues.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Solar 4569947
