A true artist possessing one of the most beautiful tones heard throughout jazz, altoist Johnny Hodges formed a style all his own early on in his career which he held to steadfastly through the decades. In Ellington’s eulogy of Hodges he said: “Never the world’s most highly animated showman or greatest stage personality, but a tone so beautiful it sometimes brought tears to the eyes - this was art and music of Johnny Hodges.”

Hodges is immortalized in this limited edition print by the artist Frederick Brown as part of a series called Portraits of Music I Love.