Side by Side
This album features a small group setting with players who are mostly from the Ellington band. It follows another album, which is on my list, called Back to Back.
The tracks feature a mixture of musicians with Johnney Hodges (alto sax) and Jo Jones (drums) being the only two that are on all of the tracks.
The sound quality is great on this remaster and contributes to a very satifying listen.
Johnney Hodges is about the least offensive sax player I have heard, maybe Stan Getz is similar in that respect. I’m not a big saxaphone fan, so when I say that I actually enjoyed the sax playing on this album you can gather one of two things. Either the playing is really entertaining and accessible or its so outlandish that it would only appeal to perople with a saxaphobia.
For me the real treat was the trumpet playing of Harry Edison which sounds to me like a mixture of Armstrong and Harry James. The best is on Stompy Jones, where Hodges starts off with a swinging melody, followed by Edison with a mute, then Les Spann on guitar, this gives way to a solo by the Duke where he and Jones build up tension until Edison comes screaming back in without the mute backed by the rest of the band. This alone is worth the price of the album.
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