Art Hodes

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Art Hodes at Club Old South . (Photo: William P. Gottlieb , 1946)
Art Hodes with Kaiser Marshall , Sandy Williams , Cecil Scott , Henry (Clay) Goodwin in Times Square (Photo: Gottlieb, 1947)

Arthur W. Hodes (* 14. November 1904 in Nikolayev , Russian Empire ; † 4. March 1993 in Harvey , Illinois , USA ) was a jazz - pianist - composer - bandleader and - journalist . As a barrel house stylist, he “combined stylistic elements from Jelly Roll Morton , James P. Johnson a . a. with a more complex harmony ”. Hodes was the original representative of Chicago jazz , who still gave concerts in Germany and Europe from the 1980s to the 1990s .

Live and act

Hodes, whose family came to America when he was an infant, grew up in Chicago taking piano lessons at Jane Addams' Hull House . First in 1926 he played with The Wolverines and from 1927 in various groups with the trumpeter Wingy Manone , but also with Gene Krupa , Bud Freeman and Frank Teschemacher . He became known with the titles Ross Tavern Boogie and South Side Shuffle . In 1938 he moved to New York, where he had groups of his own and became a radio host. From 1943 to 1947 he published the magazine The Jazz Record , which was mainly designed by musicians , and he also had a label of the same name ( Jazz Record (label) ) in 1946/47 . Between 1944 and 1949 he was the resident pianist of Blue Note Records on many important recordings by the more traditional jazz musicians. Since 1950 he lived again in Chicago, from where he occasionally traveled with all-star groups to festivals and also toured colleges and to Europe.

In the mid-1960s he had his own television series, which was awarded an Emmy award, which entertainingly presented jazz history with the help of famous musicians. From 1973 he initially concentrated on teaching in Chicago. In 1982 he toured with Milt Hinton . In the 1980s he often played with Reimer von Essen (cl) and Trevor Richards (dr), and occasionally with the Frankfurt Barrelhouse jazz band . The 1981 LP Blues to Save the Trees is an invaluable musical document of the times, the title track a quiet protest against deforestation ( Runway West ) and tree dying ( acid rain ).

In total, Hodes' discography is over 100 albums, including solo albums. In 1992 his autobiography Hot Man was published . He died of a stroke.

Discographic notes

Blue Note- 78er by Art Hodes with Ray Conniff , Rod Cless , Jack Bland , Danny Alvin u. a .: Doctor Jazz
  • The Jazz Record Story ( Black & White Records / Jazzology, 1943–46)
  • Tribute to the Greats (Selmark, 1976-78) solo
  • Someone to Watch over Me - Live at Hanratty's 1981 ( Muse Records , 1981) solo
  • Pagin 'Mr. Kelly (Candid, 1988)
  • Keepin 'Out of Mischief Now (Candid, 1988)
  • Art Hodes Blue Five and Six (Jazzology, 1987)


Trivia

  • When his wife Thelma died in the late 1970s, Art Hodes wanted to retire from the musical life. He canceled all commitments and sat in front of his television set in Park Forrest, near Chicago, in resignation. Several months later I got a call from the clarinetist Kenny Davern : “I know you don't play anymore - but you have to save me! I have a weekly engagement in Chicago and my pianist let me sit. If I don't perform, I have to pay a huge penalty - I can't afford that !!! "

After much back and forth, Art agreed and drove to Chicago. After the first set he said to Kenny: “It's okay - I can play again. It is wonderful! When will your originally planned pianist come? ”“ Not at all, ”grinned Kenny,“ I didn't hire anyone - I just wanted to get you out of your lethargy! ”And he had succeeded - Art Hodes started a new career, played regularly, took released some great LPs (also with Kenny), even got a second, very happy marriage in old age and went on tour - in Jazzland in Vienna he told me this story ... (Axel Melhardt)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Kunzler: Jazz Lexicon. Volume 1: A – L (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16512). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16512-0 , p. 565.
personal data
SURNAME Hodes, Art
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hodes, Arthur W.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH November 14, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Mykolaiv , Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH March 4th 1993
Place of death Harvey , Illinois , Illinois