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Harold Land: Westward Bound!
by Pierre Giroux
Until 1954 Harold Land was a relatively unknown tenor saxophonist. He experienced a surge in his standing with the release of Clifford Brown & Max Roach (Emarcy 1954) when he was part of this high-profile, but short lived, bebop quintet (1954-56). A decade later, this hard-bop player was recognized for his engaging ideas and robust tone and is the center of Westward Bound! a Reel To Real Limited Edition 180 gram 2LP gatefold release produced by Cory Weeds and Zev ...
Continue ReadingHampton Hawes: Remembering a Relative
by Allison Palmer
He was my maternal grandmother's nephew, the thin, handsome relation who grew to befriend my uncle Bob--also thin and handsome--and become a fixture of the postwar jazz scene in Los Angeles. Having worked amid luminaries of the era, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, and Dexter Gordon among them, Hampton was always a fascinating topic of discussion for us. On so many occasions, I sat with my uncle, mother, and grandmother at the dining room table, remembering the rich history of Central ...
Continue ReadingWest Coast Piano: Dave Brubeck, Hampton Hawes, Nat King Cole (1944 - 1959)
by Russell Perry
In the last hour, we heard from Thelonious Monk, Elmo Hope and Herbie Nichols--three closely associated New York pianists in the 1950s. In this hour, we'll return to the West Coast and another trio of pianists representing some of the widely divergent strains of jazz in the 1950s. Nat “King" Cole was famous first as a swinging pianist, who then developed into a hugely popular ballad singer. Hampton Hawes, a former Charlie Parker band mate, developed bebop into a highly ...
Continue ReadingEnrico Bettinello: Storie di Jazz
by Maurizio Zerbo
Storie di Jazz Enrico Bettinello 330 Pagine Arcana Uno dei libri più avvincenti sul jazz del 2015 viene dall'editoria italiana. Ne è autore Enrico Bettinello, giornalista tra i più preparati del panorama musicale nazionale. Il suo saggio si impone per vivacità di pensiero e acume critico, nello scandagliare le vicende artistiche di cinquantasette icone del jazz. Sono vivide pennellate d'autore, che si distanziano dai luoghi comuni della storiografia dall'alto di un punto ...
Continue ReadingHampton Hawes: Everybody Likes Hampton Hawes
by David Rickert
If everybody likes Hampton Hawes, why is he such a neglected figure today? Maybe it's because he is neither an innovator like Bud Powell nor an expressionist like Bill Evans. Maybe it was because he spent his time on the West Coast instead of the East Coast. Or maybe with covers like these, his albums get put in the children's section by mistake.
Whatever the reason, Hawes was a sturdy accompanist and a pianist who was capable of turning out ...
Continue ReadingHampton Hawes: The Sermon
by David Rickert
Hampton Hawes recorded The Sermon a few days before he was sent to prison for five years on drug charges. The session remained imprisoned for much longer, only receiving a brief release after Hawes’ death. Finally out on CD, The Sermon, as one might expect, is an album of spirituals and church hymns given the jazz treatment. This concept has been tried before, but many of these projects are too solemn and reverent, or feature less jazz than ...
Continue ReadingHampton Hawes: The Sermon
by C. Michael Bailey
Grace under pressure... While the West Coast Jazz pianist are not was well known as their East Coast brothers. However, the West Coast did produce their share of fine pianists. Dolo Coker, Carl Perkins, and Gene Russell just to mention three. Perhaps the best of the West Coast bunch was Hampton Hawes, a sort of Bud Powell filtered through a Los Angeles sensibility. Hawes began his career backing Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray in the late ...
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