1966 · Album
Stride Right
Recorded 1966 · Verve · Produced by not specified in Wikipedia entry
When the Piano Leads the Way
Hines doesn't accompany Hodges here—he shapes the conversation, sets the tempo, claims equal ground.
Earl "Fatha" Hines is the reason this album breathes the way it does. On Stride Right (1966), he's not in a support role—he's a co-author. Hodges brings his signature alto sound, warm and unhurried, but Hines dictates how these sessions unfold. His stride piano work anchors every track, moving between percussive left-hand lock-step and rolling right-hand invention. He was already a legend by 1966, and he plays like it—with the confidence of someone who'd spent decades proving what the piano could do in jazz. Hines essentially remakes the duo format here. Instead of piano-and-horn becoming a standard pairing where the pianist stays out of the way, he plants himself front and center. His comping is active, almost challenging. When Hodges enters, there's already a full conversation happening. That dynamic—the friction and balance between two strong voices—is what distinguishes this record from standard alto-and-organ sessions of the era. Hodges sounds comfortable with it, even energized. He doesn't play around Hines; he plays with him, trading phrases and ideas. It's a meeting of two elder statesmen who still had something to prove to each other. For listeners coming to Hodges late in his career, this isn't his most essential work, but it's a solid, swinging record with real personality.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Johnny Hodges
Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues 1959
3 Shades of Blue 1970
Everybody Knows 1964
Triple Play 1967
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
