“Johnny Hodges!”

The New York Times has another five-minutes feature: “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Alto Saxophone,” with musicians suggesting Benny Carter, Julius Hemphill, Charlie Parker, and others. For once I got in on the comments at the start of things, and wrote

I wouldn’t gainsay any of the choices here. But how can you have a primer on the alto saxophone and omit Johnny Hodges? I would suggest “Isfahan,” “The Star-Crossed Lovers,” or “Blood Count” (the last Billy Strayhorn composition, composed in hospital) — each a showcase for Hodges with the Duke Ellington orchestra.

As Ellington would say after a Hodges feature, “Johnny Hodges! Johnny Hodges! Johnny Hodges!”

A reply from another reader pointed out that the list is “just a sampling,” and that we “shouldn’t take offense” that it’s not comprehensive. Good grief. Leaving Johnny Hodges out of a sampling of alto saxophonists is like leaving John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, or Lester Young out of a sampling of tenor saxophonists. There’s no reason to take offense. It’s just a matter of a glaring, stupefying omission. It seems to me that the Times could have found some way to prompt somebody to suggest Hodges. (Raises hand.)

If you’d like to hear the tunes I suggested: “Isfahan,” from The Far East Suite (in performance, with Ellington holding the sheet music for Hodges to read), “The Star-Crossed Lovers”, from Such Sweet Thunder, and “Blood Count” (a live performance).

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November 10: I have to toot my own horn, so to speak, and add that my comment is number one among what the Times calls Reader Picks, with twenty-eight recommendations.