Years ago I was listening to the car radio during a long commute on the Mass Pike when a tune came on that literally stunned me. I took the next exit and parked the car so I could listen closely, and when I got home (this was before cell phones) I called up the radio station to find out just what the hell I had been listening to--a live version of Billy Strayhorn's "Passion Flower" with the incredible Johnny Hodges on alto saxophone. It's Johnny Hodges' birthday today. Hodges played in Duke Ellington's band from 1928 until 1970, except for a period during the 1950s when he led his own successful small group. Hodges was one of those exceedingly rare players in whom it all came together: astonishing technique, perfect intonation, dynamics, endless creativity, and a huge heart. I was reading an interview with Basie drummer Jo Jones last night in which he said "To be a good jazz musician, you must try to hear and see things that are beautiful." You could think of Hodges' playing as the difference between pretty and beautiful. In 1956 Ellington, who had slipped out of the public's consciousness to a degree, took the stage at the Newport Jazz Festival with Hodges and delivered a concert that put Duke right back in the center of the jazz world. The stellar program included a Hodges feature, "Jeep's Blues," and Hodges reminded everyone that night that the blues, in the hands of a true artist, is all music.