Hampton Hawes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hampton Hawes | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Hampton Barnett Hawes, Jr. |
| Born | November 13, 1928 |
| Origin |  Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Died | May 22, 1977 (aged 48) |
| Genre(s) | Soul-jazz Hard bop Bebop Jazz-funk Mainstream jazz Jazz fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist |
| Instrument(s) | Piano |
| Label(s) | Discovery, Contemporary Records, Fantasy Records |
| Associated acts | Wardell Gray, Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon, Jim Hall, Barney Kessell |
Hampton Hawes (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an African American jazz pianist.
The highly regarded bebop pianist Hampton Hawes was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. His father, Hampton Hawes, Sr., was minister of the Westminster Presbysterian Church, and his mother was the church pianist. Hawes was reported to have been able to pick out fairly complex tunes on the piano at the age of two. Entirely self-taught, by his teens Hawes was playing with some of the best jazz musicians on the West Coast, including Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Sonny Criss, and Art Pepper. His second professional job, at 19, was playing for eight months with the Howard McGhee Quintet at the Hi De Ho club, in a group that included Charlie Parker.
After serving in the army in Japan from 1952-1954, Hawes formed his own trio, with the bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Chuck Thompson. The three-record Trio sessions made by this group in 1955 on Contemporary Records were considered some of the best records to come out of the West Coast at the time. The next year, Hawes added guitarist Jim Hall for the All Night Sessions - three records made during a non-stop recording session at the Contemporary Studios in Los Angeles. After a six-month national tour in 1956, Hawes won the 'New Star of the Year' award in a Down Beat magazine poll, and 'Arrival of the Year' in Metronome. The following year, Hawes would record in New York with Charles Mingus, on the album Mingus Three (1957, Roulette.)
Struggling for many years with heroin addiction, Hawes was arrested in 1958 on his 30th birthday for selling a small amount of heroin to an undercover federal agent, and was sentenced to 10 years in a federal prison hospital. In 1961, Hawes was watching President Kennedy's inaugural speech on television in prison when he became convinced that Kennedy would pardon him. In an almost miraculous turn, Kennedy granted Hawes Executive Clemency in 1963, the 42nd of only 43 such pardons issued in the final year of Kennedy's presidency.
After his release, Hawes resumed playing and recording. During a world tour in 1967-68, he was surprised to discover that he had become a legend among jazz listeners in Europe and Japan. During a ten-month period overseas Hawes recorded nine albums, including two duo records with the virtuoso French pianist Martial Solal. In the 1970s, Hawes experimented with electronic music (Fender-Rhodes made a special instrument for him), although eventually he returned to making acoustic music.
Raise Up Off Me, Hawes' autobiography (written with Don Asher) was published in 1974, and shed light on his heroin addiction, the bebop movement, and his friendships with some of the best jazz musicians of his time. The book won the prestigious ASCAP Deems-Taylor Award for music writing in 1975; The Penguin Guide to Jazz calls Raise Up Off Me, "one of the most moving memoirs ever written by a musician, and a classic of jazz writing." A (128pp) Hampton Hawes Biography/Discography was published in England in 1987, co-authored by Roger Hunter and Mike Davis.
As a pianist Hawes's style is instantly recognizable - for its almost unparalleled swing, sophisticated approach to harmony, and range of emotional expression, particularly in a blues context. Hawes influenced a great number of other pianists including André Previn, Oscar Peterson, Claude Williamson, Pete Jolly, Toshiko Akiyoshi and others. Hawes' own influences came from a number of sources, including the spirituals he heard in his father's church as a child, and the boogie-woogie piano of Earl Hines. He also learned much from pianists Bud Powell and Nat King Cole among others; his principal source of influence though, was his friend Charlie Parker.
Hampton Hawes died unexpectedly of a brain hemorrhage in 1977, at only 48 years old. In 2004, the City of Los Angeles passed a resolution declaring November 13th 'Hampton Hawes Day' throughout the state of California.
[edit] Select discography
As a sideman:
- The Early Show by Art Pepper (1952; Xanadu Records)
- The Hampton Hawes Memorial Album (Xanadu 161)
As leader:
- Playin' in the Yard (Prestige P 10077)
- Hampton Hawes Early Years Trio and Quartet Sessions 1951-56 (Fresh Sounds Records CD 369)
- Hampton Hawes Trio, Vol. 1 - The Trio (Contemporary C 3505; Fantasy OJC 316, OJCCD 316-2) 1955
- This Is Hampton Hawes, Vol. 2 - The Trio (Contemporary C 3515; Fantasy OJC 318, OJCCD 318-2)
- Everybody Likes Hampton Hawes, Vol. 3 - The Trio (Contemporary C 3523; Fantasy OJC 421, OJCCD 421-2)
- All Night Session!, Vol. 1 (Contemporary C 3545, S 7545; Fantasy OJC 638, OJCCD 638-2 1956
- All Night Session!, Vol. 2 (Contemporary C 3546, S 7546; Fantasy OJC 639, OJCCD 639-2)
- All Night Session!, Vol. 3 (Contemporary C 3547, S 7547; Fantasy OJC 640, OJCCD 640-2) 1956
- Four! (Contemporary C 3553, S 7553; Stereo S 7026; Fantasy OJC 165, OJCCD 165-2) 1957
- The Green Leaves of Summer (Contemporary C 3614, S 7614; Fantasy OJC 476, OJCCD 476-2) 1964
- The Seance (Contemporary C 3621, S 7621; Fantasy OJC 455, OJCCD 455-2) 1966
- Blues for Bud (Black Lion (J) TKCB 30073
- Playin' in the Yard (Prestige P 10077) 1973
As Co-leader:
- Curtis Fuller and Hampton Hawes with French Horns (Status ST 8305; Fantasy OJCCD 1942-2) 1957
- Charles Mingus - Mingus Three (Jubilee JLP 1054) 1957
- Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders (Contemporary C 3564, S 7564; Fantasy OJC 340, OJCCD 340-2; 1958)
- Hampton Hawes, Martial Solal - Key for Two (BYG (F) 529 125) 1968
[edit] Trivia
- Hawes was born with six fingers on each hand, with the 'extra' digits removed three days after his birth.
- In the months between his arrest and sentencing, in 1958 Hawes recorded an album of spirituals, The Sermon, for Contemporary Records.
- Hawes' father was the first African-American minister to be voted into the National Presbyterian Senate.
