Side by Side (Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges album)

Side by Side
Side by Side
Studio album by Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges
Released	1959
Recorded	August 14, 1958 – Nola Studios, New York City February 20, 1959 -Columbia Studios, New York
Genre	jazz
Length	45:45
Label	Verve
Producer	Norman Granz
Duke Ellington chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
DownBeat	^[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[3]
Tom Hull	A^[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[5]

Although it is billed as a Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges album, Side by Side is a 1959 album mostly under the leadership of Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington's alto saxophonist for many years. Ellington only appears on three of this album's tracks. The album places Hodges at the fore, backing him with piano by Ellington or Billy Strayhorn and providing other accompaniment by jazz figures like Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Harry "Sweets" Edison and Jo Jones. The album, a follow-up to Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues, has remained perpetually in print.^[6]

Track listing

"Stompy Jones" (Duke Ellington) – 6:38
"Squeeze Me" (Fats Waller, Clarence Williams) – 4:36
"Big Shoe" (Jimmy Hamilton) – 5:37
"Going Up" (D. Ellington) – 4:51
"Just a Memory" (Ray Henderson, Lew Brown, Buddy DeSylva) – 5:53
"Let's Fall in Love" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 6:47
"Ruint" (Mercer Ellington, Johnny Hodges) – 2:32
"Bend One" (Hodges) – 2:59
"You Need to Rock" (Hodges) – 5:52

Personnel

Tracks 1, 2 and 4

Duke Ellington – piano
Johnny Hodges – alto saxophone
Harry "Sweets" Edison – trumpet
Les Spann – flute (track 4 only), guitar
Al Hall – bass
Jo Jones – drums

These tracks were recorded February 26, 1959

Tracks 3 and 5 through 9

Johnny Hodges – alto saxophone
Roy Eldridge – trumpet
Lawrence Brown – trombone
Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
Billy Strayhorn – piano
Wendell Marshall – bass
Jo Jones – drums

These tracks were recorded August 14, 1958

Nat Hentoff – liner notes^[7]

Notes

^ AllMusic review
^ Wilson, John S. (28 April 1960). "Duke Ellington-Johnny Hodges: Side by Side". DownBeat. Vol. 27, no. 9. p. 38.
^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Essential Jazz Albums of the 1950s". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 435. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
^ Chambers, Jack. "Sweet as Bear Meat: The Paradox of Johnny Hodges". (July/August 2001) Coda 298, pp. 16–20.
^ Side By Side Verve Music Group catalog. Accessed September 17, 2007.

[1] AllMusic review

[2] Wilson, John S. (28 April 1960). "Duke Ellington-Johnny Hodges: Side by Side". DownBeat. Vol. 27, no. 9. p. 38.

[3] Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.

[4] Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Essential Jazz Albums of the 1950s". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.

[Penguin-5] Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 435. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

[6] Chambers, Jack. "Sweet as Bear Meat: The Paradox of Johnny Hodges". (July/August 2001) Coda 298, pp. 16–20.

[7] Side By Side Verve Music Group catalog. Accessed September 17, 2007.

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v t e Johnny Hodges
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader	Castle Rock (1951–52) In a Tender Mood (1951–52) The Blues (1952–54) Used to Be Duke (1954) Creamy (1955) Duke's in Bed (1956) Ellingtonia '56 (1956) The Big Sound (1957) Blues A-Plenty (1958) Johnny Hodges and His Strings Play the Prettiest Gershwin (1958) Not So Dukish (1958) Side by Side (and Duke Ellington, 1958–59) Back to Back (and Duke Ellington, 1959) Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges (1959) Blue Hodge (1961) Johnny Hodges with Billy Strayhorn and the Orchestra (1961) Blue Rabbit (and Wild Bill Davis, 1963–64) Sandy's Gone (1963) Mess of Blues (and Wild Bill Davis, 1963) Everybody Knows Johnny Hodges (1964–65) Blue Pyramid (and Wild Bill Davis, 1965–66) Con-Soul & Sax (1965–66) Inspired Abandon (and Lawrence Brown, 1965) Joe's Blues (and Wild Bill Davis, 1965) Wings & Things (nd Wild Bill Davis, 1965) Blue Notes (1966) Stride Right (and Earl Hines, 1966) Wild Bill Davis & Johnny Hodges in Atlantic City (1966) Don't Sleep in the Subway (1967) Swing's Our Thing (and Earl Hines, 1967) Triple Play (1967) Rippin' & Runnin' (1968) 3 Shades of Blue (1970)
With others	Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive! At the Village Gate! (and Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge, 1962) Joya Sherrill Sings Duke (Joya Sherrill, 1965) Cue for Saxophone (Billy Strayhorn, 1959) Taylor Made Jazz (Billy Taylor, 1959) Duke with a Difference (Clark Terry, 1957)
Duke Ellington discography