Saxophonists like John Coltrane cited Johnny Hodges as a major influence on the sax-playing in bebop and hard bop, and with good reason. The man who played alto and soprano in Duke Ellington's band for decades had a miraculously warm, sensual tone (“The Star-Crossed Lovers”) that could do almost anything, whether ripping some toasty blues licks (“Castle Rock”) or seemingly endless, velvety melodies (“Passion Flower”). Hodges did some great bandleading of his own in the ‘50s (“Good Queen Bess”), but it's his long relationship with Ellington that yielded truly breathtaking music (“Basin Street Blues”).