Eddie Costa - The House Of Blue Lights (1959)

An amazingly individual and very little known vibes and piano virtuoso who was sadly robbed from jazz in a fatal car accident at the insanely young age of 32 in his last piano trio recording as a leader - a must listen. His approach to the keyboard brings to mind Lennie Tristano, no less.


Personnel:
Eddie Costa (p)
Wendell Marshall (b)
Paul Motian (ds)

Track Listing
1. House of Blue Lights (Gigi Gryce)
2. My Funny Valentine (Rodgers-Hart)
3. Diane (E. Rapee-L. Pollack)
4. Annabelle (Eddie Costa)
5. When I Fall in Love (Heyman-Young)
6. What’s to Ya (Eddie Costa)

Recorded in NYC, Jan. 29 & Feb. 2, 1959

Pedro Iturralde Quartet featuring Hampton Hawes (1968)

Great music from Spanish multi - reedist Pedro Iturralde and his quartet circa 1968 featuring the great Hampton Hawes who was visiting Europe at the time with both men at the peak of their powers -- this is jazz of the take-no-prisoners-late-night kind, enjoy

Personnel

Pedro Iturralde: reeds
Hampton Hawes: piano
Eric Peter: bass
Peer Wyboris: drums


Track listing

On Green Dolphin Street
Black Forest (Hampton Hawes) Blues
Autumn Leaves
Oleo
Moonlight In Vermont
My Funny Valentine

Hampton Hawes - I'm All Smiles (1966)

Another great Hawes date recorded on April 30 and May 1, 1966 in performance at Mitchell's Studio Club in LA in the able company of Messrs Red Mitchell on bass and Donald Bailey on drums clearly demonstrating that the best jazz is live jazz.

Track Listing:

I'm All Smiles
Manha De Carnaval
Spring Is Here
The Shadow Of Your Smile
Searchin'

Hampton Hawes & Martial Solal - Key For Two (1968)

Enter two African - Americans, one of them living permanently in France (Kenny Clarke) and two Frenchmen, one of them being born in Algiers (a pied noir or "black foot" as the Frenchies call them), two pianos, a bass and a set of drums and a very interesting musical situation can develop. I know, a jazz quartet with two pianos sounds bizarre but if you are a virtuoso in the mold of Hampton Hawes and Martial Solal these are mere formalities, enjoy.

Personnel:
Hampton Hawes: piano
Martial Solal: piano
Pierre Michelot: bass
Kenny "Clook" Clarke: drums

Rec. Paris, Jan. 1968

Track listing:
Key For Two
Stella By Stralight
Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
Bag's Groove
Lover, Come Back To Me
Fly Me To The Moon
The Theme
Godchild
Three For Two

Hampton Hawes - The Green Leaves Of Summer (1964)

This 1964 recording was Hampton Hawes’s first in more than five years. It radiates the sense of freedom the pianist felt after John F. Kennedy granted him a presidential pardon halfway through a ten-year sentence for substantial indiscretion. The session made it plain that Hawes was still one of the most important pianists in jazz, as inventive as ever and with added richness in his harmonic structures. Hawes heard special qualities in Dmitri Tiomkin’s “The Green Leaves of Summer,” gave it one of his loveliest introductions, and made it a memorable jazz waltz. The album has special treatments of pieces by Davis, Rollins, Arlen, and Berlin, and includes one of Hawes’s custom-tailored blues.

with Monk Montgomery (Wes' brother) on bass and Steve Ellington on drums.

TRACKLISTING

* 1. Vierd Blues
* 2. The Green Leaves Of Summer
* 3. Ill Wind
* 4. St. Thomas
* 5. Secret Love
* 6. Blue Skies
* 7. The More I See You
* 8. G.K. Blues

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

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!

Bobby Enriquez - The Wild Man Returns (1991) / "The Wild Man" (1981)

Bobby's first solo outing from 1981.


with Ray Brown on bass and Al Foster on drums.

Bobby Enriquez - The Prodigious Piano Of (1991)

With Richard Reid and John Pena on bass and Alex Acuna of Weather Report fame on drums, one of the best renditions of Chick Corea's latin anthem "Spain" these ears have heard (watch embedded video below).

Tracklist:
1. Spain 9:16
2. Just The Way You Are 6:17
3. Boplicity 5:34
4. Pete Kelley’s Blues 5:29
5. Hi-Fly 5:59
6. Willow Weep For Me 7:17
7. There'll Never Be Another You 5:34
8. Bobby’s Dream 6:46
9. Yesterdays 3:58
10. Night In Tunisia / Tonga 10:24