Side by Side (Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges album)

Although it is billed as a Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges album, Side by Side is a 1959 album mostly under the leadership of Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington's alto saxophonist for many years. Ellington only appears on three of this album's tracks. The album places Hodges at the fore, backing him with piano by Ellington or Billy Strayhorn and providing other accompaniment by well-known jazz figures like Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Harry "Sweets" Edison and Jo Jones. The album, a follow-up to the popular Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues, has remained perpetually in print.[4]

Side by Side
Studio album by Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges
Released	1959
Recorded	August 14, 1958 – Nola Studios, New York City February 20, 1959 -Columbia Studios, New York
Genre	jazz
Length	45:45
Label	Verve
Producer	Norman Granz
Duke Ellington chronology
Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues (1959) Side by Side (1959) Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Tom Hull	A[3]

Track listing

1. "Stompy Jones" (Duke Ellington) – 6:38
2. "Squeeze Me" (Fats Waller, Clarence Williams) – 4:36
3. "Big Shoe" (Jimmy Hamilton) – 5:37
4. "Going Up" (D. Ellington) – 4:51
5. "Just a Memory" (Ray Henderson, Lew Brown, Buddy DeSylva) – 5:53
6. "Let's Fall in Love" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 6:47
7. "Ruint" (Mercer Ellington, Johnny Hodges) – 2:32
8. "Bend One" (Hodges) – 2:59
9. "You Need to Rock" (Hodges) – 5:52

Personnel

Tracks 1, 2 and 4

• Duke Ellington – piano
• Johnny Hodges – alto saxophone
• Harry "Sweets" Edison – trumpet
• Les Spann – flute (track 4 only), guitar
• Al Hall – bass
• Jo Jones – drums

These tracks were recorded February 26, 1959

Tracks 3 and 5 through 9

• Johnny Hodges – alto saxophone
• Roy Eldridge – trumpet
• Lawrence Brown – trombone
• Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
• Billy Strayhorn – piano
• Wendell Marshall – bass
• Jo Jones – drums

These tracks were recorded August 14, 1958

Nat Hentoff – liner notes[5]

Notes

1. Allmusic review
2. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
3. Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Essential Jazz Albums of the 1950s". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
4. Chambers, Jack. "Sweet as Bear Meat: The Paradox of Johnny Hodges". (July/August 2001) Coda 298, pp. 16–20.
5. Side By Side Verve Music Group catalog. Accessed September 17, 2007.