Earl "Fatha" Hines with Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge 1965

Earl "Fatha" Hines, a contemporary of Louis Armstrong, had been making musical history for four decades previous to recording this 1965 date at the Village Vanguard. It is beyond me why Hines is often "second fiddle" to lesser musicians in many texts and critiques of this music called Jazz. After all, he was present at the birth of Jazz as a musical art form; maybe second only to Jelly Roll Morton. His influence on musicians that came afterward (such as Art Tatum, Errol Garner and Nat Cole) cannot be denied. Why does he seldom show up on the short list of musicians in the Jazz pantheon?

I paid a small fortune for these two hidden gems; more than any other in my collection. But, the purchase has paid off in spades. What a dynamite performance by not only Hines but also elders Roy Eldridge and Coleman Hawkins. The program of standards is exemplary, the collaborative execution is exciting and the sound is superb for this live date. Add to this the wonderful liner notes detailing this trio's not so positive experience with Charles Mingus during the week at the Vanguard and you have a GREAT listening experience as well as a palatable history lesson. TEN STARS! (obviously) happy amazon customer

..This is one of the great feel-good jazz recordings of his or anyone's career. Hines plays it every way but safe here, taking outrageous harmonic and metric chances....It's one of Hawk's last superior performances...
JazzTimes (05/01/1996)

Tracklisting
DISC 1:
1. Portraits of Fats Waller: Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now / Two Sleepy People / Ain't Misbehavin' / The Jitterbug Waltz / Squeeze Me / Honeysuckle Rose
2. C-Jam Blues
3. Sunday
4. Broadway Medley: Baubles, Bangles And Beads / Tea For Two
5. Sweet Georgia Brown

DISC 2:
1. The Grand Terrace Medley: Breezin' Along With The Breeze / A Cottage For Sale / Fine And Dandy
2. Man I Love, The
3. Rosetta
4. Undecided
5. Just One More Chance - (previously unreleased)
6. Take the "A" Train

Album notes
Earl Hines Trio: Earl Hines (piano); George Tucker (bass); Oliver Jackson, Jr. (drums), Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone); Roy Eldridge (trumpet, flugelhorn)

Recorded live at The Village Vanguard, New York on March 14, 1965. Originally released on Limelight (86020, 86028) as two separate LPs. Includes liner notes by Dan Morgenstern, Ira Gitler and Chris Albertson.

Digitally remastered by Suha Gur (Polygram Studios).