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Con Chapman
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Rabbit's Blues: The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges Kindle Edition

by Con Chapman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
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 eyes--this 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.
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  1. Print length
    237 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Accessibility
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  5. Publication date
    August 1, 2019
  6. File size
    13.0 MB
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Con Chapman

Con Chapman

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Con Chapman is a Boston-area writer, author of "Rabbit's Blues: The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges" (Oxford University Press), winner of the 2019 Book of the Year award of the Hot Club de France; "Kansas City Jazz: A Little Evil Will Do You Good" (Equinox), "Don Byas: Sax Expat" (University Press of Mississippi); and "Queer Street: The Curious Connection Between Boxing and the Homoerotic," forthcoming from The Lutterworth Press in 2026. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and a number of literary magazines.

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