The trumpet brings with it a well-earned reputation for assertiveness. “Screaming brass.” The trumpet player who says, “I think you’re sitting in my chair,” when being interviewed by the Deity. The trumpeter leads the army and defeats them by force, intensity, and volume. We know these musicians and admire them (even as some of us retreat to adjoining rooms). How many years of bleeding through the Arban books did such mastery take?
But there’s also a lovely tradition of trumpeters singing through their instruments, going back to Joe Smith, Buck Clayton, Bobby Hackett, Ray Nance, and Shorty Baker. Chris Hodgkins is a contemporary charter member of that gracious group, and he has some new CDs to show off his gentle middle-register approach. He doesn’t rush; he doesn’t seek to impress the listener with note-torrents. He sings through those unforgiving loops of brass, and we hear his song.
As Bobby Hackett said of Louis, “Do you know how hard it is to make melody come so alive?”
Here‘s Chris at the Pizza Express with Wayne Wilkinson, guitar, and Lenore Raphael, for IT’S THE TALK OF THE TOWN, a favorite song of Joe Thomas’.
That CD is available at https://chrishodgkins.bandcamp.com/ — as are others in this post (physical discs or digital downloads). And here’s another beauty, EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, where I can hear Billie sing through Chris’s quiet embrace of the melody.
Such playing takes a great deal of instrumental skill, aesthetic restraint, and emotional intelligence. A chorus might take less than a minute; a player has a limited time to tell a story, and every note must count. Flash is out of place and immediately jarring: plastic flowers, not real blossoms.
Here’s Chris, terse and splendid in what might seem a “traditional” setting but it’s actually Mainstream: the Pete Allen band making its way through EVERYBODY LOVES MY BABY:
That CD (Upbeat Records) was recorded in June 2023: details here.
I can easily hear the connections between Chris and Humphrey Lyttelton in the subtle mix of forthrightness and delicacy, so Chris’ CD in tribute to Humph is especially welcome. Here’s Chris’ original, CECIL BEATON STRIDES AGAIN, which shows another kind of musical intelligence, that being modesty. It’s a feature for the band, completely evocative of Humph, featuring trombonist Mark Bassey and the superb young pianist Jinjoo Yoo. I emphasize that modesty: a lesser mortal might have made “a tribute to Humph” into a showcase for his own solos; Chris understands that Humph was his band, and the CD proceeds accordingly and delightfully.
What might be my current favorite of Chris’ output (until the next surprise comes along) is FESTOONED WITH TRUMPETS. The unusual title is yet another connection to Humph, explained in the notes. This is Chris’ “International Quartet,” with Jinjoo Yoo, piano; Alison Rayner, double bass; Wayne WIlkinson, guitar.
Here‘s Chris’ take on Johnny Hodges’ EVERYBODY KNOWS — a witty, quietly unhurried approach to the blues. And his lyrical ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE. This is truly a quartet in the best egalitarian way. One might think that there is nothing more to say about BODY AND SOUL, but Jinjoo proves that assertion wrong here.
Everyone has a past, and with luck it doesn’t consist of encounters with the authorities. Chris’ past (we’re speaking of 1976 in Cardiff, UK) is documented in a series of happy informal on-the-job recordings with the legendary guitarist Vic Parker and drummer Jed Williams, rescued from someone’s shelf and issued on this CD:
Here’s the venerable and dear IDA, a performance that evokes Bill Coleman in Europe and of course bows to Louis in the nicest ways.
This has been the briefest possible tour of / introduction to Chris Hodgkins, someone keeping sophisticated melodic improvisation alive every time he picks up his horn. Unlike the hallowed names I called above, Chris has the advvantage of being alive, playing gigs, making people happy in person.
Other trumpeters might aim above the staff: Chris aims at our hearts.
May your happiness increase!
JAZZ LIVES 
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