I know of no sound more beautiful than that of Johnny Hodges's alto saxophone. I could be listening to it all my life without getting tired. No one has played ballads more beautifully, and their swing and sense of blues are unmatched. It seems that when he played those moving melodies, his face was absolutely expressionless, unflappable. It was the Buster Keaton of jazz. Even their hats looked alike.
Their nicknames were Jeep and Rabbit. The greats admired him. Starting with Sidney Bechet, who discovered him, passing through Duke Ellington, Ben Webster and Billy Strayhorn, who were his inseparable traveling companions to John Coltrane.
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He entered the Ellington orchestra in 1928 and he was there, being the star among the many that he had, 23 years old, until 51, when advised by those who wished him a greater role, he began a solo career with his own groups It only lasted four years, which took Hodges to get tired of being the "boss", and in '55 he returned with Ellington, who welcomed him with open arms. Hodges continued to play in his orchestra for another 15 years, up to a week before he died in 1970.
His boss said of him that "He was not exactly the most entertaining of the showmans nor the most imposing personality on the scene, but his tone was so beautiful that it made you cry."
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