 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: GBK
Date: 2013-09-21 15:54
An amazing and fascinating look at Johnny Hodges' customized and heavily engraved alto sax, narrated by current owner Frank Wess and disassembled by repair tech extraordinaire Tomoji Hirakata.
Definitely, a must see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad_NFvmyPvA
Thanks to Hans (in Canada) for the link.
...GBK
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-09-21 17:21
Wow! I dread to think how much something like that would cost nowadays if made to special order.
I tried a Leblanc Rationale tenor recently which was unplayable as it had been overhauled by someone who didn't have much of a grasp of the mechanics.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-09-21 22:00
I had the good fortune to know Johnny Hodges well. He played a Beuscher for practically all of his career, as did Russel Procope, who actually played first alto in the Ellington orchestra most of the time because he was a far better reader. Johnny switched to a very elaborate Leblanc-Vito for the last 3 years of his life for commercial reasons; I think he always missed his old Beuscher with the octave key in the form of a snake's head.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-09-22 02:07
But the Vito has a snake-head upper octave vent.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Wes
Date: 2013-09-22 05:56
When this instrument was new, I saw it, or one like it, being played by Hodges at a concert at Disneyland. He played beautifully but seemed so bored with the affair, showing little interest.
At the same concert, Paul Gonsalves, the tenor saxophone player, played with a very dead sound that didn't seem right.
There was a Vito with this system on sale recently at the sax on the web site for a fairly low price.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-09-22 05:57
I suppose that's what Johnny Hodges asked for on his Vito too. It must have been his signature: a snake head with ruby eyes looking at him when he played. I don't know whether the instrument was manufactured in France or the US. I'll ask the old-timers from Leblanc here in Paris. The Vito had more "ping" than the Beuscher, but was less round-toned.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-09-22 06:04
Wes:
That was Johnny Hodges' trademark: looking bored and playing like an angel. Malcolm X talks about an incident in which a dancer stabbed another one a couple of feet opposite where Johnny was playing and Hodges went on playing beautifully without skipping a beat. When he played, he was imperturbable; in life, he was very different: actually pathologically shy and very nervous.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: BobD
Date: 2013-09-22 12:38
ruben......thanks for the interesting comments.
Bob Draznik
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