Follow TV Tropes

Following

Trivia / Johnny Hodges

Go To

  • What Could Have Been: When Hodges first joined the Ellington orchestra he doubled on soprano sax. In fact he picked up the soprano before the alto, having been influenced by Sidney Bichette. However when he attempted to push for an increased pay for doubling Ellington refused, and by the mid-1940s Hodges ultimately dropped the soprano altogether. It's an interesting case of not only What Could Have Been for Hodges himself, but for the soprano saxophone as a whole. While the soprano sax was a common alternative to the clarinet during the Dixieland era and was used occasionally in jazz thereafter, it would not be until John Coltrane's recording of "My Favorite Things" over 20 years later that jazz saxophonists would truly begin seriously looking at the soprano again. Had Hodges continued doubling, the soprano may have had a larger role in the development of jazz through the swing and bebop eras as a result of his influence.

Top