One of the truly giant sounds of the alto sax, Johnny Hodges, is celebrated here by Owen Broder, who plays his alto like the Duke Ellington sideman, but also brings in a warm Harry Carney-esque baritone for a couple of tunes. The material here covers various eras of the mellifluously toned Hodges, ranging from Duke’s big bands, small groups and various projects of Hodges own when away from the Ellington confines.
Broder is teamed with Riley Mulherkar/tp, Carmen Staat/p, Barry Stephenson/b and Bryan Carter/dr, with the team swinging hard on the fun and shuffling “You Need To Rock” with clean and sublime on “Royal Garden Blues”. Staaf captures the Ellington touch with Mulherkar’s velvety trumpet on “Just A Memory” as well as on the lovely “Ballade For The Very Sad and Very Tiered Lotus Eaters” that has Broder on the glowing bari. Broder is fluffy and c ozy on “Viscount” and is the Lilly Pons of the alto around the easy stride of “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself A Letter”. I usually don’t like tributes, as I figure “why not just go back to the original?” , but this one is such a treat that It’s already calling me back for repeated listens. Ah! Tone!