With Billy Strayhorn & The Orchestra [Original recording remastered]

Johnny Hodges | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 23, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00000HYIF
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,781 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare look at Hodges and Strayhorn without Ellington, April 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: With Billy Strayhorn & The Orchestra (Audio CD)

This disc which is the result of a session in 1961 that features Johhny Hodges on alto sax with Billy Strayhorn as the band leader. Detail of the session is related in Lush Life the biographpy of Billy Strayhorn (pg 217). Briefly, Strayhorn was given free rein in providing new arrangments of songs by Ellington, Hodges and himself. In the 30 plus years they worked together Strayhorn used the Ellington orchestra to feature Hodges. However, this disc really puts Hodges in the forefront of the orchestra and the results are tremendous. Hodges, under Strayhorns direction gives top notch redendtions of 2 of the greatest songs they did together, Day Dream and I Got It Bad. I haven't stopped playing this disc, comparing the arrangements by Strayhorn and playing by Hodges against other Ellington discs. Another one you may want to try is "And His Mother Called Him Bill" which I think is Hodges greatest performance. Oh by the way, Happy 100th Birthday Duke (April 29th) We love you madly!

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST HAVE FOR ALL ELLINGTON STRAYHORN FANS!, August 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: With Billy Strayhorn & The Orchestra (Audio CD)

And that goes for all Johnny Hodges fans too. If you hear a more lovely reading of "Your Love Has Faded" anywhere, I'd like to know where. Hodges was at the pinnacle of his career and Strayhorn finally got some overdue recognition and lee way to do a fantastic album of covers and originals. Its unknown exactly what was Strayhorn's and what was Ellington's when it came to the big band's compositions, but some of the very best are right here. Where "Faded" moans in an achingly beautiful way, "Tailor Made" and "Juice-A-Plenty" really swing! It is important to remember that Johnny Hodges, while being a very articulate man (probably brushed off from Duke himself) could barely read or even sign his name. Thank God he knew how to play sax!!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Sound, Too, November 11, 2010

By 

Johnny Hodges (Clark Fork, ID United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: With Billy Strayhorn & The Orchestra (Audio CD)

Johnny was a notoriously diffident leader, so his other recordings as headliner (all small groups), while featuring the most beautiful alto player ever, seldom have great arrangements or interplay. With Strays at the helm, this is probably Hodges' most "together" recording.

It is also the best recorded I've heard (as you might imagine from the pseudonym, I have a LOT of his recordings), including my Mosaic boxed set. Jeep has an incredibly delicate tone, and to appreciate the true majesty of his art requires the best possible reproduction.

Side By Side makes a perfect companion. A small group session, again in sparkling fi, which (although Duke is on the cover), features a rare glimpse of Strayhorn just playin' with a small band. Duke plays on half the tracks, Bill on the rest. Bet you can't tell which is which without peeking at the liner notes.

This is fun to play for people who "don't like jazz". Warning: failure to respond to a Johnny Hodges ballad indicates an urgent need for spiritual and/or medical assistance!