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One of the all-time great clarinetists and arguably the most significant of the 1920s, Johnny Dodds had a memorable tone in both the lower and upper registers, was a superb blues player, and held his own with <a href="spotify:artist:19eLuQmk9aCobbVDHc6eek">Louis Armstrong</a> (no mean feat) on his classic <a href="spotify:artist:19eLuQmk9aCobbVDHc6eek">Hot Five</a> and Hot Seven recordings. He didn't start on clarinet until he was 17 but caught on fast, being mostly self-taught. (His younger brother <a href="spotify:artist:2ELk72EFgeLu9RsIPmwCOS">Baby Dodds</a> was among the first important drummers.)

Johnny Dodds was with <a href="spotify:artist:7fvNIXXszS6FTHROnZVsK4">Kid Ory</a>'s band during most of 1912-1919, played on riverboats with Fate Marable in 1917, and joined <a href="spotify:artist:24PJRbYtu3Cq5CuF24c1QZ">King Oliver</a> in Chicago in 1921. During the next decade, he recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:24PJRbYtu3Cq5CuF24c1QZ">Oliver's Creole Jazz Band</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4XepUkisa56DUeA3gbjDQD">Jelly Roll Morton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:19eLuQmk9aCobbVDHc6eek">Louis Armstrong</a>, and on his own heated sessions, often utilizing trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:5taSXZnHTuVBm7PKVwP25H">Natty Dominique</a>. He worked regularly in Chicago at the landmark prohibition nightspot Kelly's Stables during 1924-1930. Although Dodds continued playing in Chicago during the 1930s, part of his time was spent running a cab company. The clarinetist led recording sessions in 1938 and 1940, but died just before the New Orleans revival movement began. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi

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