John Cornelius Hodges
American, 1907 - 1970
Names
- John Cornelius Hodges
- Johnny Hodges
BiographyJohn Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges was born on July 25, 1907 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was an American alto saxophonist. After beginning his career as a teenager in Boston, Hodges began to travel to New York and played with Lloyd Scott, Sidney Bechet, Luckey Roberts, and Chick Webb. Duke Ellington expanded his band in 1928 and hired Hodges after Barney Bigard's recommendation. From 1951 to 1955, Hodges left Ellington's band to lead his own, but returned shortly before Ellington's return to prominence: the orchestra's performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956. In May 1970, Hodges died from a heart attack.
Sources: Britannica; Abjorensen, Norman. Historical Dictionary of Popular Music. United States: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2017.
Sources: Britannica; Abjorensen, Norman. Historical Dictionary of Popular Music. United States: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2017.
Person TypeIndividual
