The first time I saw the Duke Ellington orchestra was at Fairfield Hall, West Croydon. I was 15, in 1962 ,and had heard about Count Basie and the Duke but had never seen these legends. There were many magical moments throughout the show, especially Satin doll, Soloists, Paul Gonsalves,Cookie Williams to name a few. But then this small, mustached gentleman stood up, Duke simply announced, Mr Johnny Hodges and he began to play. I will never forget it, the beautiful, elegant sound he conjured was unlike any saxophone I'd ever heard, nothing fancy or showy, just the most exquisite music. After that, despite not having much money at the time, I saved in order to see the mesmerising Johnny Hodges.
For slowing the mind, what better song could there ever be? Amazingly beautiful, congratulations to the Duke for his creativity and musical taste and brilliance. ❤
The Jeep or Rabbit as his band mates called him was awesome in person as was Paul Gonsalves. I remember Duke's Band at The Randall Island Jazz Festival in 1960 I think. Monk, Sonny Stitt and a whole Host of Super Stars played that Event. I forget the line up as it was long ago but Monk had a bag of hats from his World Wide Travels and changed into a different one every few minutes. He later told me at The 5 Spot I think that he had 33 or 35 hats. That was an awesome time to be alive!
Sounds fantastic. Incredible that you got to hear and meet all the greats. Thanks for your insights. I've only seen a handful of them over here in the UK... Late in their careers of course. I saw Johnny Griffin, Sonny Rollins, Phil Woods and most memorably of all Herb Geller who was still playing incredibly well.
@@i_am_jazz most cool Liam. I once sat in the Half Note with Lennie Tristano & Warne Marsh drinking Gin / Vodka tonics. Talking about Getz, Pres & other Tenors! It was a Matinee Performance and myself & my pal Tony were the only customers in the joint that day! 1958 I'm thinking. Damn that was 63 years ago. I was 18 ( then the legal drinking age in New York NY!
Straight through you, to the heart of the matter, which is, how lovely is jazz, its heart, its ability to reduce elements of music to reverent thought. Bravo.
Hodges was wonderful. I got to hear him live a couple of times. In the late '60s, when we were sitting at the bar in Club Laurel, on Broadway, a small Chicago club listening to the Basie band, he hit gently on my first wife. I took it as a compliment to her.
