A Musical Eleventh Hour ... not too late - rants & raves - craigslist (2024)

https://youtu.be/21d6fCHyT6k

The
Eleventh
Hour

JOHNNY
HODGES

Arranged and Conducted by
OLIVER NELSON

side one
1. SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR
2. IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD
3. I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT YOU
4. GUITAR AMOUR
5. YOU BLEW OUT THE FLAME (In My Heart)
6. THEME FROM "THE ELEVENTH HOUR
side two
1. LOVE SONG FROM "MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY"
2. SOLITUDE
3. SATIN DOLL
4. DON'T BLAME ME
5. PRELUDE TO A KISS
6. WARM VALLEY

Nobody sings on the alto saxophone
like Johnny Hodges. He sings all kinds.
of songs. He sings slow and sad songs,
and he sings pretty and perky songs.
His lyric gift is such that whatever he
sings has beauty, grace and warmth.
Somewhere, too, never long obscured, is
another quality, one which bubbles up
irresistibly in his music, a quality we
had better call, quite simply, joy.
That this is a good quality, no one in
his right mind would dispute, yet we
have been through a long period in popular
music where the tragic, the gravely
profound and the corrosively bitter
somehow came to be regarded as almost
automatically superior, artistically, to
the joyful, the amusing and the entertaining.
It was rather as though an obsession with
shadows, past, present and future,
had led to their eventual acceptance as
the ultimate reality. The artistic expression
of happiness tended to be thought
of as square, and that of morbidity hip.
Among the agencies called upon for
aid at dark eleventh hours in human
affairs is music. It can calm, and relax,
and uplift. In this album, Johnny
Hodges' serene saxophone is accompanied
by buoyant, soaring strings.
They provide a setting very different
from that in which he is usually heard.
The effect is so mellow, so unforced,
that it may well bring the solace you
seek if you have been brought to a
musical eleventh hour by a surfeit of harsh
and strident sounds,
On the other hand, you may be like
the laborers who came to the vineyard
at the eleventh hour. You came late,
but you were lucky. In fact, whenever
you discovered Johnny Hodges you
were lucky-thirty years or thirty minutes
ago! One of the great artists of the
century, his unique talents have made
him an American musician of
international renown.
His romantic side is presented here
in a dozen well-chosen tunes. Eight
beautiful numbers are naturally very
familiar to him for they are by Duke
Ellington, with whom he has so long
been associated. Then there are his own
lively You Blew Out the Flame, the
standard Don't Blame Me, the love
song from Mutiny On the Bounty, and
The Eleventh Hour Theme. Though the
encompassing mood is generally tender,
the range of emotions expressed is not
narrow. His manner of expression, however,
is unfailingly natural. He is a musician of
taste, not an exhibitionist.
Something To Live For, which Duke
Ellington and Billy Strayhorn wrote
together, is a yearning song with more
than a hint of hope. Arranger Oliver
Nelson has emphasized its optimism
with brisk commentaries from the
strings and a brighter tempo than usual.
On Ellington's famous In a Sentimental
Mood, Johnny is appropriately
moody and sentimental, while on I
Didn't Know About You he "sings"
wonderingly of unsophisticated love.
Guitar Amour is the guitarist's number
in "Paris Blues," and it is played
here with a suggestion of gypsy passion
not only by Johnny but also by his colleague
in Duke's band, Ray Nance. Ray
is an accomplished violinist and after
Bernie Leighton's piano lead-in, as the
rhythm strengthens, he swings out like
a transplanted tzigane. This results in a
noticeable increase in the ardor with
which the saxophonist approaches the
succeeding chorus.
Johnny also swings You Blew Out
the Flame In My Heart, as though the
title were more rebuke than lament.
What is clearly indicated is that another
love will soon be found to light the
flame again. Oliver Nelson's writing
here has the strings moving very
effectively behind the jaunty saxophone
line.
The element of suspense heard in the
melody of The Eleventh Hour Theme
is treated with a certain wistful
detachment, but the violins and cellos
underline it and create their own tense
climax. The arranger uses the organ
very subtly on this.
The love song from "Mutiny On the
Bounty" introduces a sultry and exotic
atmosphere that is evocative of surf on
a coral strand, palm trees, the moon and
familiar human passions.
Solitude, one of Duke Ellington's
finest, is interpreted with more zest and
bounce than might be expected, but
reflections in a lonely room are not
necessarily lethargic. Maybe Johnny had
Satin Doll on his mind. A gay, flirtatious
miss she proves to be on this
occasion.
Don't Blame Me was written by Dorothy
Fields and Jimmy McHugh in
1933. It is a ballad which wears exceedingly
well and Johnny Hodges gives it
a gentle, pleading treatment that is
handsomely supplemented by the
strings.
Prelude To a Kiss is understandably
thoughtful and amorous by turns.
Johnny's familiarity with the attractive
melody extends over nearly a quarter of
a century, but Oliver Nelson's score
obviously gives him fresh inspiration.
Last, there is Warm Valley, a famous
showcase for the Hodges alto since
1940, here made newly appealing with
its elegant backdrop of strings. George
Duvivier and Osie Johnson, on bass and
drums respectively, furnish a discreet
but sure foundation.
"I got a great kick out of it," Johnny
Hodges said when the last session was
over. "I think Oliver Nelson did a big
job." Always economical with words, he
paused a moment before adding the
final accolade: "He's crazy!"
The "big job" both have done is
indicative of their versatility and mutual
understanding. At a time when most
young saxophone players were under
Charlie Parker's influence, Oliver Nelson's
idol was — as he still is — Johnny
Hodges. Oliver was, therefore, particularly
happy to have this opportunity of
working with him. He had scored for
strings in school and previously in
accompaniments to vocalists, but his
imaginative writing here is of much more
significance. It represents another
important achievement in the career of
one of the most brilliant arrangers to
come to the fore in recent years.
"Lull'd with sound of sweetest melody,"
any listener to this album ought
to be capable of enduring his Eleventh
Hour.
— STANLEY DANCE

------------

John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on soprano saxophone, but refused to play soprano after 1946. Along with Benny Carter, Hodges is considered to be one of the definitive alto saxophone players of the big band era.

After beginning his career as a teenager in Boston, Hodges began to travel to New York and played with Lloyd Scott, Sidney Bechet, Luckey Roberts and Chick Webb. When Ellington wanted to expand his band in 1928, Ellington's clarinet player Barney Bigard recommended Hodges. His playing became one of the identifying voices of the Ellington orchestra. From 1951 to 1955, Hodges left the Duke to lead his own band, but returned shortly before Ellington's triumphant return to prominence – the orchestra's performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival.

Hodges was born in the Cambridgeport neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to John H. Hodges and Katie Swan Hodges ... -- Wikipedia

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... previously on "Great Instrumental Music":

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/flame/7763448353.html

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/americans-buy-more-than-guitars-year/7763416099.html

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/and-his-two-pianos/7763293753.html

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/mood-music-library/7763208361.html

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/this-is-my-country/7763031222.html

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/brass-percussion-for-the-fourth/7762969208.html

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/music-for-pleasure/7762847130.html

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.. ... ...

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