Verve Reissues ‘Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges’
The 1959 jazz record has been remastered from original analog tapes.
The 1959 record Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges, a collaboration between the two great jazz saxophonists, has been reissued as the latest release from Verve’s Acoustic Sounds Series. The album was mastered from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.
Recorded on November 17th, 1959, Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges has been heralded as one of Mulligan’s best collaborations with fellow instrumentalists. On this date, the two saxophonists were joined by a solid rhythm section of Claude Williamson (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), and Mel Lewis (drums).
The tracklist pulls from both artist’s repertoires, featuring three originals each from Mulligan and Hodges. The two complement the other throughout with the exception of Mulligan’s “What’s the Rush,” where the baritonist sits out altogether in favor of Hodges’ alto taking the spotlight.
Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges is the second Hodges collaboration to be reissued by Verve. Earlier this year, Acoustic Sounds re-released Side By Side, one of two 1959 LPs he recorded with Duke Ellington. The pair were long-time collaborators, with Hodges first joining Duke Ellington’s Orchestra back in 1928. Hodges left Ellington’s band in 1951 to pursue smaller group work, but the two reunited as peers for the 1959 records.
The Acoustic Sounds series has been ongoing since 2020, reissuing a vast collection of records from Verve/UMe’s rich archive. Artists featured have included icons like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fiztgerald, Nina Simone, and many more.
Upon the series’ launch, Acoustic Sounds’ CEO Chad Kassem shared that he believed the project would produce “the highest quality reissues of some of the world’s greatest jazz albums.” He further shared, “Each step in our production process – from title selection to mastering, pressing and packaging – is designed to meet the highest standards, and we want everyone who hears these albums to feel the love and hard work we put into everything we do.”
