Side by Side (Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges album)

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 and Johnny Hodges 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]

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 and was among the first of the Verve Music Group catalog to be transferred to CD,^[2] on March 23, 1999.^[3]

Track listing

1. "Stompy Jones" (Duke Ellington) – 6:38
2. "Just 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" (Lew Brown, Buddy DeSylva, Ray Henderson) – 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 – saxophone: alto
• Harry "Sweets" Edison – trumpet
• Les Spann – flute, guitar
• Al Hall – bass
• Jo Jones – drums

These tracks were recorded February 20, 1959

Tracks 3 and 5 through 9

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

These tracks were recorded August 14, 1958

Nat Hentoff – liner notes ^[4]

Notes

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Chambers, Jack. "Sweet as Bear Meat: The Paradox of Johnny Hodges". (July/August 2001) Coda 298, pp. 16–20.
3. ^ Side By Side Verve Music Group catalog. Accessed September 17, 2007.
4. ^ Side By Side Verve Music Group catalog. Accessed September 17, 2007.