Johnny Hodges (Ellington Sounds)

[tomo]

What mouthpiece suits Buescher ?

[tinpalaceroach]

i use selmer and brilhart's but for that smooth johnny hodges sound(ellington band) do try big tip berg larsen rubber mpcs from a 105/1 and up. be sure to add lots of notes with fall offs,ghost,shakes,glissandos,portamento, and most important a strong fast vibrato. kind of like a keyboard player twiddleing with the pitch wheel.

[Razzy]

This is a touch inane.

Anyhow, if you are indeed asking for advice on how to get a Hodges-type sound, listen to his recordings and try to emulate it. His sound isn't particularly far in any direction but GOOD, catch the drift? Work with what you've got: your current setup and your noggen.

[Dave Dolson]

Tomo: Razzy is right . . . you won't sound like Hodges until you THINK like Hodges; even then, you may never make it (few do). Buy a good horn, buy a good mouthpiece, and fire away.

And as far as Bueschers, any mouthpiece that plays good for you will probably play good for you on a Buescher. They are just saxophones (albeit very good ones - I own six), after all. DAVE

[altoist]

i use selmer and brilhart's but for that smooth johnny hodges sound(ellington band) do try big tip berg larsen rubber mpcs from a 105/1 and up. be sure to add lots of notes with fall offs,ghost,shakes,glissandos,portamento, and most important a strong fast vibrato. kind of like a keyboard player twiddleing with the pitch wheel.

Don't forget that mind boggling subtone. Check out Hodges doing "Satin Doll"
on "Blues A Plenty", available as part of the triple LP on "The Soul Of Ben Webster. I think my jaws dropped and I played that tune several times in a
row. I have heard a many versions of that tune, and his is the version for
me.

I'm sure tons of mouthpieces could be used for a Hodges sound, as others
say, it's practice and listening. But I'd avoid pieces that sound naturally
harsh or edgy, like the Jumbo Java for me. I don't hear Hodges as harsh or
edgy.

I wish more people had tried harder to copy his sound, one of the most beautiful alto sounds I have ever heard. And why is so much of his
work is only available as expensive Japanese imports, if at all?

[Rackety Sax]

But just for the record, what mouthpiece did Rabbit play? Hard for me to believe he played anything like a 105 tip opening.

[RootyTootoot]

I did a little research and couldn't find anything directly on this question about Rabbit's m/p. Since i'd like to know too i'm bumping this hoping someone will notice and know for sure. (There's also a separate thread currently on the same question). I'd always assumed the answer was a stock open-chambered Buescher m/p, maybe with some work done to it? I could be way out, but that's what it looks like and I think it would make sense for his sound... Later/bit more digging: there's definitely more than one!!

[ToreH]

It is not easy to get info on mouthpieces used by Johnny Hodges , but after studying a few pictures I've come to this list :

During the 1930s he played Conn altos and for a period (late 30s) he played a metal Master Link mouthpiece. He switched to a Buescher Aristocrat type 1 alto about 1942 and then the Aristocrat bigB, and played some Brilhart mouthpieces (in the 40s). He also had a Buescher 400 alto (top hat and cane) with an Aristocrat neck (?), but mostly used the Aristocrats. During most of the 50s and 60s he used a HR Berg Larsen mpc - chamber and facing unknown. Then in his last years ( some years after Selmer had taken over Buescher in 63) he took on a Vito-Leblanc system alto and a Selmer Soloist mpc.

[BarrySachs]

Procope played a Buescher Aristocrat with a Brilhart "Tonalin". He may have played a Mk6 in the late '60s/early '70s.

Rab did play a Tonalin on his Conn 6m in the 40s. The above post has some good information.

BTW, Rab's Vito alto was not the Leblanc system but a standard Vito with fancy engraving and a high F#. It had a serpent octave key on the neck. I played his Vito in the mid '90s when Frank Wess (the current owner) brought it to Sonny's Place, a Long Island jazz club (now gone).

[littlemanbighorn]

I'd have to agree with Razzy on this one. The mouthpiece isn't important. Hodges always sounded like Hodges, regardless of the setup.
Just make sure your setup's flexible enough for some serious smeary bending. Practice bending notes, vibrato, long tones and melodies, melodies, melodies.....

[ToreH]

Barry

It's hard to argue with a guy that has played the horn, but to the best of my knowledge Hodges' Vito was a "VITO LeBlanc System" , it was probably built by Beaugnier (France) and shipped in pieces to Kenosha,Wisconsin to be assembled by G. Leblanc - in the late 60s.

But it is not the very special Leblanc Rationale or Semi-rationale system, and not the Leblanc model 35.

Quite far away from the thread now:D

[kwg333]

Tomo: Razzy is right . . . you won't sound like Hodges until you THINK like Hodges;

Great advice. Don't just copy - try to absorb his style. I had to play a lot of his stuff, night after night, a while back including note for note transcriptions. He was a fantastic player, one of the very best. Immerse yourself :)

[gwindplayer]

Johnny Hodges used a Brilhart mouthpiece modified to implement a tenor reed. This gave him the ability to smear notes to an incredible minor 3rd.