Results for "Johnny Hodges"
Johnny Hodges

Born:
"Never the world's most highly animated showman or greatest stage personality, but a tone so beautiful it sometimes brought tears to the eyes, this was Johnny Hodges. Because of this great loss, our band will never sound the same. Johnny Hodges sometimes sounded beautiful, sometimes romantic, and sometimes people spoke of his tone as being sensuous. With the exception of a year or so, almost his entire career was with us. So far as our wonderful listening audience was concerned, there was a great feeling of expectancy when they looked up and saw Johnny Hodges sitting in the middle of the saxophone section, in the front row. I am glad and thankful that I had the privilege of presenting Johnny Hodges for forty years, night after night
Oded Tzur: A Thrilling New Saxophone Colossus

by Chris May
Oded Tzur's 2020 album, Here Be Dragons, the Tel Aviv born, New York based tenor saxophonist's first release on ECM, triggered an eruption of purple prose. Critics competed to see who could convey the most enthusiasm. A few even suggested that the Tzur quartet was the inheritor of the mantle of the classic John Coltrane quartet. ...
Groove Town: Buffalo Jazz And Its Legacy - Historical Insights

by Barbara Ina Frenz
From early on, Buffalo attracted musicians as a place to live and pursue their artistic endeavorsand they were excellent ones: Lil Hardin Armstrong, Jimmie Lunceford, Pete Johnson, and Stuff Smith. Dodo Greene, two masters of polyrhythm, Frankie Dunlop and Clarence Becton, as well as pianist and bassist Wade Legge grew up here. Two distinctive voices on ...
Chad Fowler / Matthew Shipp: Old Stories

by Mark Corroto
Call it kismet, karma, astral influence or just plain luck, but when two musicians instantaneously click upon meeting, magic happens. Indeed, that was the case with the coming together of saxophonist Chad Fowler and pianist Matthew Shipp. The New York-based Shipp is ,of course, well known to adventurous listeners from his solo and trio recordings, plus ...
Live From The Blue Note Jazz Club: Jan ‘Ptaszyn’ Wróblewski, Michel Korb, Felix Robin, Dawid Tokłowicz, Nata & Evgeny

by Martin Longley
Jan 'Ptaszyn' Wróblewski Blue Note Jazz Club Poznań, Poland August 31, 2021 Although not acknowledged on the main Blue Note website, along with the clubs in New York City, Tokyo, Hawaii, Milan and Rio De Janeiro, there has been a low-key acknowledgement of this Polish outpost's ...
Kenny Garrett: The Value of Ancestors

by R.J. DeLuke
Saxophonist Kenny Garrett has always respected the music of his predecessors. He knows its importance. He knows the value of the tradition, knowledge and innovation passed on to new generations of musicians. He's recorded, for example, dedications to John Coltrane (Pursuance, Warner Bros., 1996), as well as Joe Henderson and Sonny Rollins (Trilogy, Warner ...
Immanuel Wilkins: Omega is Just the Beginning

by Mark Robbins and Derrick Lucas
Saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, in the midst of celebrating the success of his debut album Omega (Blue Note, 2020), appeared at the 2021 Newport Jazz Festival as the leader of his own band. With his band of four years, Micah Thomas on piano, bassist Daryl Johns and drummer Kweku Sumbry, Wilkins performed pieces from Omega as well ...
Ulysses Owens: Big Band, Big Sound

by R.J. DeLuke
Some jazz drummers, as remarkable as they may be and as successful as their careers are, just aren't suited to drive a big band. It's not for every percussionist. But every big band needs a good one or the effort will fall short. A ship needs a rudder. Ulysses Owens Jr., who started beating out rhythms ...
Anaïs Reno: Lovesome Thing: Anaïs Reno sings Ellington & Strayhorn featuring Emmet Cohen

by Pierre Giroux
Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn were collaborators for several decades beginning in the late 1930s. They became so closely intertwined musically that it was frequently impossible to distinguish their work. Anaïs Reno a young and promising singer has chosen to use their compositions as the basis for her debut release Lovesome Thing: Anaïs Reno Sings Ellington ...
Saxophone Colossi: An Alternative Top Ten Banging Albums

by Chris May
Miles Davis once said you could tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker. You might want to add John Coltrane, you might even want to add Davis. But however you cut it, saxophones and trumpets have been the flag bearers of the music. Trumpets got things rolling and saxophones came into ...