Description
Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges – Side by Side – 180 Gram Vinyl Record
Side by Side is a 1959 Verve session built around the durable musical relationship between Duke Ellington and alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges. Ellington appears on three tracks, while Billy Strayhorn leads the piano chair elsewhere; Hodges remains the central voice, surrounded by players including Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Lawrence Brown, and Jo Jones.
“Stompy Jones,” “Squeeze Me,” and “Going Up” place Ellington’s piano beside Hodges and Edison, producing a compact swing-band sound with plenty of room for individual phrasing. Hodges can glide through a melody, roughen a blues inflection, or hold a single note until it becomes the performance’s emotional center.
The alternate lineup on “Big Shoe” and the second-side pieces introduces Strayhorn, Webster, Eldridge, and Brown. Webster’s tenor brings a smoky counterweight to Hodges’s alto, and Strayhorn’s accompaniment is both elegant and rhythmically alert. “Just a Memory” and “Let’s Fall in Love” benefit from that mixture of polish and late-night looseness.
The Hodges originals “Ruint,” “Bend One,” and “You Need to Rock” close the record with concise blues statements. Side by Side works less as a formal Ellington album than as a gathering of musicians who shared his language and could reshape it instinctively in a small group.
This 2025 Verve Acoustic Sounds Series edition was remastered from the analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl, and housed in a tip-on gatefold jacket. The nine-track program follows the original LP.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
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