[.ca] Hampton Hawes Trio, Vol. 1

From Amazon.com:
West Coast jazz of the 1950s was known for "cool school" textures and less rhythmic drive than its East Coast counterpart, but Hampton Hawes represented a different side of California jazz, playing intense hard bop with as much focused energy as any resident New Yorker. This 1955 recording was the first and the most potent of Hawes's series of trio recordings with Red Mitchell on bass and Chuck Thompson on drums, revealing the pianist as one of the finest musicians working in the bop idiom. He could reel off choruses of flying single-note lines with technique and invention that would rival Bud Powell's, or switch to extended passages in forceful block chords. Hawes is equally at home here on standards, ballads, and his original bop blues tunes, pushing harmonic extension to the limits. In the process, he develops a personal weave of joy and passion that represents one of the high points of jazz piano in the era. --Stuart Broomer

great record:
Hampton Hawes is a great player. I think this is my favorite record of his. "Volume One" was casually recorded in one night (starting at midnight) in the Los Angeles Police Academy's gym/auditorium. The songs are great, the solos are great. It's relaxed when it's slow and it's relaxed when it's lightning fast. You can sense the excitement and happiness in the players, like some friends got together, stayed up late, and made a great record.

This Trio Didn't Quite Do It For Me:
I know the three volumes of Hampton Hawes's "The Trio" have always received praise from jazz critics, but I have to say "Volume 1" didn't quite do it for me. I have to admit, it takes a pretty special piano trio album to get my attention as I am much more interested in quartet, quintet and sextet recordings. But with that being said, I own dozens of jazz trio CDs -- from hard bop like Monk, Bud Powell and Bill Evans, to avant-garde like Paul Bley, Cecil Taylor and Chick Corea, to present-day artists like Matthew Shipp and Marilyn Crispell. And while Hawes, Red Mitchell and Chuck Thompson definitely have chemistry, and play competently both on the up-tempo numbers and the ballads, "The Trio, Volume 1" always seemed to lack a certain edge. I am inclined to give this disc three stars, but because all those critics can't be wrong, I am opting instead for four stars. However, I would recommend to those interested in Hawes to start instead with the scorching five-star disc "For Real!" Recorded in 1958, it features a stellar quartet of Harold Land on tenor sax, Scott LaFaro on bass and Frank Butler on drums, and it is definitely worth getting excited about.

Hampton Hawes Trio Vol 1:
No offense to diehard fans of the late Mr. Hawes, but I am inclined to agree to with the previous reviewer who wanted to give the album 3 stars and didn't. To this listener's ears, the playing on this record leaves Hawes in an artistic no mans land--not virtuosic enough to keep up with Peterson or Newborn and not subtle enough to compare with Sonny Clark, Tommy Flanagan or Hank Jones. From the opening cut on I Got Rhythm there is a hard driving style that sets the tone for the record: lots of phrases and little space eventually leading to monotony. There is not enough interest and thought to the solo lines to sustain a close listening. As opposed to similar artist Peterson,who played ballads with sparkle, sobriety and taste, Hawes ballad efforts (These Foolish Things)also fall short because there is not enough harmonic ingenuity, voice leading and touch to be moving. Hawes is not helped with the piano quality on this either. He has better recordings later especially as a sideman but on this one he's just not thinking enough. The consecutive blues tunes in the same key probably don't help the freshness either. This was probably a "let the tape roll" kind of session but the artist has to live with the results, inspired or uninspired. To my ears this was the latter.

Amazing Hard Bop Piano:
This is some of the hardest swinging jazz piano anywhere. Up there with my favorite Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, Phineas Newborn, Wynton Kelly, Sonny Clark. Don't miss this one if you love hard bop.

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