Search - Johnny Hodges :: 4 Classic LPs- Castle Rock/In A Mellow Tone/Perdido/Creamy

Recommended & A Great Price

G. Ratcheson | Washington | 03/11/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just got mine today. To the best of my knowledge, all 4 of these LP's are out of print in the US. First, great music. It's 1951-55 Hodges & with Ellingtonians on much of the 2 cd's; nuff said.



For the price, the quality is quite acceptable. These are needle drops (I think that's all Avid does?), but pretty well done. After purchasing this, I discovered I also already had the Japan Verve cd release of Castle Rock. Comparing the 2: Both are needle drops (I'm surprised Verve didn't have a master tape). The Verve is better, but each has different imperfections: The Verve sounds more natural but has more pops & crackles. The Avid has virtually no pops, but does have some distortion & quite a bit of background hiss; which is totally absent on the Japan Verve.



However, I paid under $13 for mine (remember this is a 2 cd set with 4 complete albums) including delivery from Amazon UK, & if you can find the Japan cd at all, it's likely going to be at least $30. And the Avid sounds way better then most budget UK needle drop jazz reissue companies.



Good stuff. I also own there Lionel Hampton set Three Classic LPs- Krupa, Hamp & Wilson/Hamp & His Giants & look forward to there new releases."

SOPHISTICATED ALTO

Barry McCanna | Normandy, France | 03/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Avid continues its policy of value for money with this reissue of four classic albums by Ellington's famous sideman, here fronting his own groups. Both Castle Rock and In A Mellow Tone were recorded in the early fifties. The latter album was also issued as Memories of Duke Ellington, and just to confuse matters there are other issues entitled In a Mellow Tone, one live, the other with Wild Bill Davison. Both Perdido (which was also issued as Johnny Hodges Dance Bash!) and Creamy date from 1955, but for the two Al Hibbler vocals on Perdido.



In general, my own preference is for the music of the twenties and thirties, so I approached this with some caution. In the event I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the recordings, both for the excellence of the ensemble playing and the solos. Castle Rock, which gave the newly-independent Hodges an early hit, swings the most - and throws in an alternate take of The Jeep Is Jumping for good measure. In A Mellow Tune is the most Ellington oriented of the four, whilst Perdido allows the most time for the soloists to stretch out. Finally, Creamy (as the title suggests) is centred around the art of the ballad, at which Hodges excelled."

Smooth Hodges

Music Lover | 03/27/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a great find! As a fan of the "Johnny Hodges sound", I was thrilled to find this four album/two CD release. As a previous reviewer noted, it is a needle-drop but the sound is bright & clean and the music is timeless. This one's a gem!!!"