Hampton Hawes: Blues The Most

Blues the Most gathers ten vintage blues tracks that West Coast pianist Hampton Hawes (1928-1977) recorded between 1955 and 1958 and adds one track from 1976. The 11 tunes are taken from six of Hawes's Contemporary LPs ( Hampton Hawes Trio, For Real!, This is Hampton Hawes: Vol. 2, Four!, Hampton Hawes At The Piano, Everybody Likes Hampton Hawes and All Night Session ) and offer a fair representation of how Hawes applies his bop background to a variety of different blues. Most tunes feature a Hawes trio while several others add a guitarist (Jim Hall or Barney Kessel) or the tenor sax of Harold Land. Trouble is, as with most compilations, so much more could have been added (there were plenty of meaty blues from all three volumes of All Night Session ). But producer Eric Miller had quite a challenge successfully collecting these tracks and, as a result, Blues The Most is a valuable introduction to one interesting aspect of this great pianist's work.

Songs:Blues The Most; Hamp's Blues; Hip; Blues for Jacque; Yardbird Suite; Soul Sign Eight; Up Blues; The Sermon; For Real; Takin' Care; Hampton's Pulpit.

Players:Hampton Hawes: piano; Jim Hall or Barney Kessel: guitar; Harold Land: tenor sax; Red Mitchell or Ray Brown or Scott Lafaro: bass; Chuck Thompson or Frank Butler or Shelly Manne or Buzz Freeman: drums.