Johnny Hodges: Prelude to a Kiss

Two weeks after recording "Prelude to a Kiss" under Ellington's aegis, Johnny Hodges switched from soprano to alto sax, added vocalist Mary McHugh and redid his boss' serenade under his own name. If Miss McHugh found the song daunting, it doesn't show. She handles its slippery chromatic slopes and heady intervallic ascents with affecting naturalness, setting up a half-chorus of Rabbit at his languid best. Whereas the Maestro's first version of what would become a standard was overly sentimental, Hodges and McHugh clarify Duke's masterful construction with simplicity and directness. The lyric contends, "You could turn it to a symphony: a Schubert tune with a Gershwin touch." We prefer an Ellington tune with a Hodges touch.