Hampton Hawes
American jazz pianist (1928–1977)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hampton Barnett Hawes Jr. (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977)[1] was an American jazz pianist. He was the author of the memoir Raise Up Off Me,[2] which won the Deems-Taylor Award for music writing in 1975.
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November 13, 1928
Hampton Hawes | |
|---|---|
Hawes in Japan in 1953 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Hampton Barnett Hawes Jr. November 13, 1928 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | May 22, 1977 (aged 48) Los Angeles |
| Genres | Jazz, hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, West Coast jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Labels | Vault, Contemporary, Discovery, Fantasy |
Early life
Hampton Hawes was born on November 13, 1928, in Los Angeles, California.[3] His father, Hampton Hawes Sr., was minister of Westminster Presbyterian Church.[1] His mother, the former Gertrude Holman, was Westminster's church pianist.[1] Though part of a musical family, Hawes was almost entirely self-taught on the piano.[4]
Life and career
By his teens, Hawes was playing with some of the leading jazz musicians on the West Coast, including Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Art Pepper, Shorty Rogers, and Teddy Edwards. His second professional job, at 18, was playing for eight months with the Howard McGhee Quintet at the Hi De Ho Club, in a group that included Charlie Parker.[1] Hawes began recording at 19, in 1947. Artists from early session dates included George L. "Happy" Johnson, Teddy Edwards, Sonny Criss, and Shorty Rogers. From 1948 to 1952, he appeared on numerous live recording dates, including at leading Los Angeles-area jazz clubs including The Haig, The Lighthouse, and The Surf Club.[1] His first recordings as a leader were in 1952, for the Discovery and Prestige labels, the latter being with a quartet that featured Larry Bunker on vibraphone.
Hawes was drafted into the Army in 1952 and sent to Japan. While stationed at Camp Drake near Tokyo, he mainly played in "Army bands, shows and officer clubs",[5] in the 289th Army Band, the American Embassy, and extensively in Tokyo and Yokohama's jazz clubs. Hawes greatly influenced local jazz musicians in post-war Japan (one of whom was a young Toshiko Akiyoshi, a profound admirer of Hawes)[6] who had previously relied on what few recordings they could obtain to understand the new developments in the music. However, he ran into trouble with the law due to narcotics use. He was arrested, sentenced, and imprisoned in Tokyo before being sent back to California to serve out his time in 1954.[7]
After his discharge from the Army, Hawes formed his own trio, with bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Chuck Thompson.[1] The three-record Trio sessions made by this group in 1955 on Contemporary Records were considered some of the finest records to come out of the West Coast at the time.[1] The next year, Hawes added guitarist Jim Hall for the All Night Session! album.[1] These were three records made during a non-stop overnight recording session.[8]
After a six-month national tour in 1956, Hawes won the "New Star of the Year" award in Down Beat magazine, and "Arrival of the Year" in Metronome. The following year, he recorded in New York City with Charles Mingus on the album Mingus Three (Jubilee, 1957).[1]
Struggling for many years with a heroin addiction, in 1958 Hawes became the target of a federal undercover operation in Los Angeles.[1] Investigators believed that he would inform on suppliers rather than risk ruining a successful music career. Hawes was arrested on heroin charges on his 30th birthday[8] and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment.[8] In the intervening weeks between his trial and sentencing, Hawes recorded an album of spirituals and gospel songs, The Sermon, in dedication to his father, who was retiring after 45 years as minister of Westminster Church.
In 1961, while imprisoned at Fort Worth Federal Medical Facility, Hawes was watching President Kennedy's inaugural speech on television, and became convinced that Kennedy would pardon him.[8] With help from inside and outside the prison, Hawes submitted an official application for Executive Clemency. In August 1963, Kennedy granted Hawes clemency, the 42nd of only 43 such pardons given in the final year of Kennedy's presidency.[8]
After being released from prison, Hawes resumed playing and recording. Recordings on Contemporary Records from the early 1960s include "The Green Leaves of Summer" and "Here and Now." Yet as jazz was fading as the leading popular music in America after the arrival of The Beatles in 1964, Hawes struggled, like so many jazz musicians, to maintain his career. When he took a ten-month trip to Europe and Asia with his wife Jacque, who was on a study-sabbatical as a teacher, Hawes was shocked to discover that he had become a legend overseas. Embraced by major jazz audiences, clubs, and recording companies, Hawes played and recorded nearly non-stop, appearing on television and radio, and recording ten albums in so many months.
Raise Up Off Me, Hawes' autobiography, written with Don Asher and published in 1974, shed light on his heroin addiction, the bebop movement, and his friendships with some of the leading jazz musicians of his time.[1] It won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for music writing in 1975. Critic Gary Giddins, who wrote the book's introduction, called Raise Up Off Me "a major contribution to the literature of jazz." The book Raise Up Off Me includes details about the ambivalent relationship of Hawes and Charlie Parker.[9]
Hampton Hawes died unexpectedly of a brain hemorrhage in 1977, at the age of 48.
Style and influence
Hawes' playing style developed in the mid-1940s.[10] He included "figures used by Parker and [Bud] Powell (but he played with a cleaner articulation than Powell), some Oscar Peterson phrases, and later, some Bill Evans phrases [...], and an impressive locked-hands style in which the top notes always sang out clearly."[10] He also helped develop "the double-note blues figures and rhythmically compelling comping style that Horace Silver and others were to use in the mid-1950s."[10] His technique featured "great facility with rapid runs and a versatile control of touch."[10]
Hawes was influenced by some jazz pianists, including Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell.[11] Hawes' own influences came from a number of sources, including the gospel music and spirituals he heard in his father's church as a child, and the boogie-woogie piano of Earl Hines. Hawes also learned much from pianists Powell and Nat King Cole, among others. However, his principal source of influence was his friend Charlie Parker; "It was Bird`s conception of time that influenced me most...Of course I didn`t try to copy his solos or anything like that, but I think Parker has influenced me more than anybody, even piano players."[5]
Discography
As leader/co-leader
| Recording date | Title | Label | Year released | Personnel/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951-9 | The Hampton Hawes Trio | Vantage Records | 1951 | With Harper Cosby (bass), Lawrence Marable (drums). |
| 1952-12 | Hampton Hawes Quartet | Prestige | 1955 | Quartet, with Clarence Jones (bass), Lawrence Marable (drums), Larry Bunker (vibraphone). Later re-issued on "Freddie Redd/Hampton Hawes Piano: East/West" by Prestige in 1956. |
| 1955-06 | Hampton Hawes Trio | Contemporary | 1955 | One track solo piano; most tracks trio, with Red Mitchell (bass), Chuck Thompson (drums). |
| 1955-06, 1955-12, 1956-01 |
This Is Hampton Hawes | Contemporary | 1956 | Trio, with Red Mitchell (bass), Chuck Thompson (drums) |
| 1956-01 | Everybody Likes Hampton Hawes | Contemporary | 1956 | Trio, with Red Mitchell (bass), Chuck Thompson (drums) |
| 1956-11 | All Night Session! Vol. 1 | Contemporary | 1958 | Quartet, with Jim Hall (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Eldridge Freeman (drums) |
| 1956-11 | All Night Session! Vol. 2 | Contemporary | 1958 | Quartet, with Jim Hall (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Eldridge Freeman (drums) |
| 1956-11 | All Night Session! Vol. 3 | Contemporary | 1958 | Quartet, with Jim Hall (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Eldridge Freeman (drums) |
| 1957-04, 1957-05 |
Baritones and French Horns | Prestige | 1958 | Septet, with Curtis Fuller (trombone), Sahib Shihab (alto sax), David Amram and Julius Watkins (French horn), Addison Farmer (bass), Jerry Segal (drums); originally issued with other recordings; reissued as Curtis Fuller and Hampton Hawes with French Horns by Status |
| 1958-01 | Four! | Contemporary | 1958 | Quartet, with Barney Kessel (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums) |
| 1956-01, 1958-03 |
Bird Song | Contemporary | 1999 | Most tracks trio with Paul Chambers (bass), Larance Marable (drums); two tracks trio listing Scott LaFaro (bass), Frank Butler (drums) |
| 1958-03 | For Real! | Contemporary | 1961 | Quartet, with Harold Land (tenor sax), Scott LaFaro (bass), Frank Butler (drums) |
| 1958-11 | The Sermon | Contemporary | 1987 | Trio, with Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Stan Levey (drums) |
| 1964-02 | The Green Leaves of Summer | Contemporary | 1964 | Trio, with Monk Montgomery (bass), Steve Ellington (drums) |
| 1965-05 | Here and Now | Contemporary | 1966 | Trio, with Chuck Israels (bass), Donald Bailey (drums) |
| 1966-04, 1966-05 |
The Seance | Contemporary | 1969 | Trio, with Red Mitchell (bass), Donald Bailey (drums) |
| 1966-04, 1966-05 |
I'm All Smiles | Contemporary | 1973 | Trio, with Red Mitchell (bass), Donald Bailey (drums) |
| 1967 | Hamp's Piano | SABA | 1969 | also released as Hampton Hawes in Europe (Prestige) |
| 1968-01 | Key for Two | BYG Actuel | 1973 | with Martial Solal |
| 1968-03 | Spanish Steps | Black Lion | 1971 | Trio, with Jimmy Woode (bass), Art Taylor (drums). also released as Blues for Bud |
| 1968-05 | The Challenge | Victor | 1968 | Solo piano |
| 1968? | Jam Session | Columbia | 1968 | with Isao Suzuki (bass), George Otsuka (drums), Shungo Sawada (guitar), Akira Miyazawa (ts), Hidehiko Matsumoto (ts) |
| 1970? | High in the Sky | Vault | 1970 | Trio, with Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Donald Bailey (drums) |
| 1971-09 | This Guy's in Love with You | Freedom | 1974 | Trio, with Henry Franklin (bass), Michael Carvin (drums); in concert; also released as Live at the Montmartre (Freedom) |
| 1971-09 | A Little Copenhagen Night Music | Freedom | 1977 | Trio, with Henry Franklin (bass), Michael Carvin (drums); in concert |
| 1972-06 | Universe | Prestige | 1972 | With Oscar Brashear (trumpet), Harold Land tenor sax), Arthur Adams (guitar), Chuck Rainey (electric bass), Ndugu (drums) |
| 1973-01 | Blues for Walls | Prestige | 1973 | Two tracks quartet, with George Walker (guitar), Henry Franklin (bass, electric bass), Ndugu (drums); most tracks sextet, with Oscar Brashear (trumpet), Hadley Caliman (soprano sax, tenor sax) added |
| 1973-06 | Live at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago Volume One | Enja | 1981 | Trio, with Cecil McBee (bass), Roy Haynes (drums); in concert |
| 1973-06 | Live at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago Volume Two | Enja | 1989 | Trio, with Cecil McBee (bass), Roy Haynes (drums); in concert |
| 1973-07 | Playin' in the Yard | Prestige | 1973 | Trio, with Bob Cranshaw (electric bass), Kenny Clarke (drums); in concert |
| 1974-07 | Northern Windows | Prestige | 1974 | With Allen DeRienzo and Snooky Young (trumpet), George Bohanon (trombone), Bill Green, Jackie Kelso and Jay Migliori (saxes, flute), Carol Kaye (electric bass), Spider Webb (drums) |
| 1975-06 | Recorded Live at the Great American Music Hall | Concord Jazz | 1983 | Duo, with Mario Suraci (bass) |
| 1976-01, 1976-08 |
As Long as There's Music | Artists House | 1978 | Duo, with Charlie Haden (bass) |
| 1976-06 | Something Special | Contemporary | 1994 | Quartet, with Denny Diaz (guitar), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Al Williams (drums); in concert; |
| 1976-08 | Hampton Hawes at the Piano | Contemporary | 1978 | Trio, with Ray Brown (bass), Shelly Manne (drums) |
| 1977? | Memory Lane Live | JAS | 1977 | with Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Bobby Thompson (drums), Harry Edison (trumpet), Sonny Criss (as), Teddy Edwards (ts: B2), Joe Turner (vocals: A3,B1) |
Compilations
- The Hampton Hawes Memorial Album (Xanadu, 1982) – rec. 1952–56
- Trio and Quartet 1951-1956 Live and Studio Sessions (Fresh Sound, 2005)[2CD] – rec. 1951–56
As sideman
Bibliography
- Raise Up Off Me: A Portrait of Hampton Hawes by Hampton Hawes, Don Asher, and Gary Giddins
- Hampton Hawes: A Discography by Roger Hunter & Mike Davis. 127pp. Manana Publications, Manchester, England. 1986.
