Cambridge last Saturday honored a great musician with local roots, inaugurating July 25 as “Johnny Hodges Appreciation Day” and unveiling a commemorative plaque honoring him.
John Cornelius “Johnny” Hodges was born on July 25, 1907 in a three-decker at 137 Putnam Avenue. He was the lead alto saxophonist for the Duke Ellington band for four decades, except for a four-year period in the 1950s when he led his own ensemble. At Hodges’ funeral in 1970, Ellington said “Our band will never sound the same.”
A bronze plaque with a bas relief sculpture of Hodges was installed on a fence bordering Putnam Gardens, a Cambridge Housing Authority apartment complex across the street from where Hodges was born.
The event was celebrated by a group of jazz musicians, educators, afficionados and fans as well as neighbors. “Johnny Hodges is one of the greatest American musicians, and the fact that he was born in Cambridge, in a house that’s still standing, that people live in, is so amazing,” said Matt Glaser, founding artistic director of the American Roots Music Program at Berklee College of Music.
Jazz saxophonist Allan Chase, who was also in attendance, said “Johnny Hodges remains one of my biggest inspirations on the instrument I’ve played every day since I was a kid.” Chase, a recently retired jazz history and music theory professor at Berklee College of Music, said what set Hodges apart as a player was his tone. “He had this glowing, beautiful sound. It was sweet, but not overly sweet, and he filled the air with this gorgeous sound.”
Chase said that Hodges, more than any other individual, “gave the Duke Ellington orchestra its sound.”
The plaque was funded by the Johnny Hodges Appreciation Society, a local non-profit. Among those on hand were Cambridge City Councillor Marc McGovern, who as vice mayor in 2021 helped move the proposal to install a plaque on public property through the city’s lengthy permitting process. The event was hosted by Con Chapman, a Natick-based attorney who wrote the 2019 biography “Rabbit’s Blues: The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges.”
Chapman noted that Hodges was short, and some called him Jeep, after the diminutive character in the Popeye cartoons who always came to the rescue. He said Cambridge was where Hodges started playing music, picking up piano — his mother was a skilled pianist — and playing at parties for $8 a night. He also talked his mother into buying a saxophone. When Hodges was 12, his family moved to the South End. By the age of 18, Hodges was living in New York and playing in Ellington’s orchestra.
While an actor in a rabbit costume — Hodges was also a fast runner and acquired the nickname “Rabbit” — distributed keepsake brochures, a quartet performed selections from Hodges’ repertoire. There were two alto saxophonists, Ken Field and Neil Leonard; drummer Rich Greenblatt; and delivering the bass line, Josiah Reibstein on tuba.
Songs included “Jeep’s Blues” and a Hodges tribute to his mother, Virginia, entitled “Good Queen Bess,” the name his children gave her. Also performed was “Daydream,” a soaring Ellington-Strayhorn composition for Hodges.
Field, president of the Boston Jazz Society, said “It’s important for the community to recognize one of their own who became so influential. People will walk by, read this plaque, learn of Johnny Hodges and feel pride.”
That pride is warranted, said Glaser, who was a commentator in the 2001 Ken Burns series “Jazz.”
“It’s hard to overstate the impact that Johnny Hodges had on American music. His solos were heard by musicians of various styles. He transcends style with his music — it’s almost Shakespearean, with his incredible tone and unbelievable intonation. There’s never been a more beautiful instrumentalist in American history than Johnny Hodges.”
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.