Johnny Hodges: Medley I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart / Don't Get Around Much Any More

This medley of two Ellington classics is a real delight of superb jazz playing. "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart" uses Harry Carney on baritone sax for the lead playing, which makes for an interesting and somewhat unusual tone and musical texture to carry the melodic theme. Carney employs that rich, deep-toned baritone sax sound to wonderful effect, with an excellent rhythmic sense, on this much-loved hit song of Ellington from the late 1930s. Ray Nance adds a fine, creative solo on open trumpet. The all-star group provides excellent backing.

The medley transitions nicely into "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," which has one of Ellington's most memorable and delightful melodies. (It also has marvelous lyrics that speak so well to the experience and heart of so many people, though they aren't sung here.) Johnny Hodges opens this part of the medley with a simply sublime statement of the melodic theme, developing into creative variations. His playing here, as on "Everybody Knows" and "310 Blues" from the same 1964 Hodges-led recording session, show that his famous sumptuous tone, style, and bluesy feeling on alto sax were, if anything, even richer 36 years after he began playing with the Ellington band. A trombone break by Lawrence Brown adds a rich-toned dimension.