Saturday, October 11, 2008

Hampton Hawes - Spanish Steps (1968)



A rare gem that never made it on CD to my knowledge. Recorded in Paris in 1968 while being on a world tour, featuring some achingly beautiful playing of Hawes' second post - prison phase with superb original compositions, ably accompanied by Jimmy Woode on bass and Arthur Taylor on drums.

[b]Tracklist[/b]

1. Blues Enough
2. Sonora
3. Black Forest
4. Dangerous
5. Spanish Steps
6. My Romance

(mp3 320 kbps)

Hampton Hawes - For Real! (1958)




A great date, Hampton’s last before he served his 5 year drug - related jail term (and was pardoned by JFK) accompanied by bass legend Scott LaFaro (who was a member of the first great Bill Evans Trio before his tragic death in a car accident at the age of 26) Harold Land on sax, and Frank Butler on drums.

Quality: FLAC

Friday, October 10, 2008

Hampton Hawes - The Trio Vols 1 - 3 (1955-56)



Hampton Hawes' amazing string of trio albums recorded between June 1955 and Jan. 1956 superbly accompanied by Red Mitchell on bass and Chuck Thompson on drums.



Lovingly recorded by Contemporary Records' Lester Koenig and his recording engineer Roy DuNann (the West Coast equivalent of Rudy Van Gelder) employing state-of-the-art techniques and defining the sound of the day - crisp, clear and balanced.




In the video that follows, we can cherish the magic of Hampton Hawes in an all - star quartet setting with Bob Cooper on tenor sax, Ray Brown on bass and Shelly Manne on drums at the latter's famous jazz club Shelly's Manne Hole in California circa 1970.



This is jazz of the highest order (in luscious FLAC), enjoy!