Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges - Back to Back / Side by Side / 2CD set

The complete Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges small group albums 'Back to Back' and 'Side by Side'. The first is fully dedicated to the blues form and, in addition to Duke’s own playing, showcases his veteran sideman Johnny Hodges. Side by Side was a continuation of Back to Back in that it presented the extant tunes from those sessions, plus another small group date featuring Hodges with Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Lawrence Brown and Billy Strayhorn.

As a bonus, nine bonus tracks from Ellington’s sessions recorded during the same period, all of which prominently feature both Hodges and the blues (rounding out Back to Back), as well as six tracks from Hodges’ following session after the one with Ben Webster from Side by Side, which presents a very similar personnel and format and rounds out the second CD.