SACD Johnny Hodges – Blues A-Plenty

Blues A-Plenty as a hybrid stereo SACD from Analogue Productions’ Verve series: Johnny Hodges in 1958 with Billy Strayhorn at the piano and, on five tracks, Roy Eldridge, Vic Dickenson and Ben Webster. All nine selections play in one sequence – from “I Didn’t Know About You” to “Reeling And Rocking”.

Hodges leads, Strayhorn takes the piano chair

New York, 5 April 1958: Johnny Hodges records the nine selections of Blues A-Plenty. Billy Strayhorn plays piano, Jimmy Woode bass and Sam Woodyard drums; Roy Eldridge, Vic Dickenson and Ben Webster join them on five tracks, with Norman Granz producing. The personnel already sketch the setting: musicians from the Ellington circle meet other great swing voices, with Hodges’ alto saxophone at the centre.

Duke Ellington does not play on the record – which makes the set-up all the more interesting. Strayhorn sits in the piano chair, and Hodges builds a programme around his own compositions and chosen standards. If you mainly know him as a soloist inside the orchestra, here you can follow each musician within a smaller band.

Between quartet and septet

The session discography documents two line-ups. “I Didn’t Know About You”, “Gone With The Wind”, “Don’t Take Your Love From Me” and “Satin Doll” feature the quartet. On “Cool Your Motor”, “Honey Hill”, “Blues-A-Plenty”, “Saturday Afternoon Blues” and “Reeling And Rocking”, trumpet, trombone and tenor saxophone expand the group to seven players.

That alternation offers a natural route through the album: follow how the setting for the alto changes when the extra horns arrive, then return to the smaller group. All seven names belong to the album – but not every one of them plays on every selection, and the personnel list below keeps the documented assignments.

Blues and ties to the orchestra

Five compositions are by Hodges. The programme also includes Ellington’s “I Didn’t Know About You”, with lyricist Bob Russell, and “Satin Doll” – the connection to the orchestra stays present without its full scale. “Reeling And Rocking” forms the extended finale, an invitation to stay with the album to the very last note.

On another listen, let Strayhorn’s piano be your guide, then shift your attention to Woode and Woodyard. A small group does not make musical relationships simple, but it makes them easier to follow – part of the charm of an album whose title promises the blues while its players bring a far wider world of associations.

The hybrid stereo SACD from Analogue Productions

CVRJ 6123 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD from Analogue Productions (Verve). According to the publisher, George Marino at Sterling Sound mastered it from the original master tapes; the DSD version was made from a PCM transfer, for which Marino chose a George Massenburg GML 20-bit converter after comparing several. The SACD layer plays on SACD-capable players, the CD layer on any conventional CD player. The disc contains the nine selections of the original 1958 album.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.

Also in another edition: Blues A-Plenty

Musicians

Participants and documented credit status. Track references correspond to the tracklist.

• Johnny Hodgesalto saxophoneParticipation: Album personnel
• Roy EldridgetrumpetParticipation: tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 9
• Vic DickensontromboneParticipation: tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 9
• Ben Webstertenor saxophoneParticipation: tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 9
• Billy StrayhornpianoParticipation: Album personnel
• Jimmy WoodebassParticipation: Album personnel
• Sam WoodyarddrumsParticipation: Album personnel

Produced by Norman Granz. Quartet on tracks 1, 3, 6, 8; septet on tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, according to the session discography. Published durations for track 9 differ; no unverified duration is promised.