Hugh Lawson

Biography
Articles

Hugh Lawson, was an American jazz pianist from Detroit who worked with Yusef Lateef for more than 10 years. Inspired by Bud Powell, Hampton Hawes and Bill Evans, Lawson first gained recognition for his work with Yusef Lateef during the late '50s. He recorded with Harry "Sweets" Edison (1962), Roy Brooks, and Lateef on several occasions in the 1960s. In 1972, he performed with "The Piano Choir" (Strata-East), a group with seven pianists including Stanley Cowell and Harold Mabern. He went on to tour with Charles Mingus in 1975 and 1977 and made recordings with Charlie Rouse (1977), George Adams, and as a leader. He died of colon cancer in White Plains, NY, March 11, 1997, at the age of 61.

Roy Brooks: The Free Slave

Read "The Free Slave" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
March 9, 2026

Esistono molte ragioni per non farsi sfuggire questa splendida riedizione (anche in vinile dal master originale analogico). Primo: Il nome del batterista Roy Brooks resta ingiustamente dimenticato anche se gli unici raffronti possibili--musicalmente parlando--sono con Tony Williams ed Elvin Jones. Affetto da un disturbo bipolare Brooks fu spesso internato in case di cura e in carcere ma fu protagonista per anni nei gruppi di Horace Silver, di Yusef Lateef, Charles Mingus e Max Roach. È deceduto nel 2005 a 67 ...

Album Review

Roy Brooks: The Free Slave

Read "The Free Slave" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
November 5, 2025

Roy Brooks's The Free Slave, newly reissued on Time Traveler Recordings as a 180-gram vinyl LP, stands as a passionate tribute to the drummer's remarkable artistry and his often overlooked role as one of the most rhythmic thinkers of the post-bop period. Recorded live by Muse Records on April 26, 1970, at Baltimore's renowned Left Bank Jazz Society, the session features Brooks leading a stellar quintet that includes trumpeter Woody Shaw, tenor saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Hugh Lawson, and bassist ...

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Album Review

Yusef Lateef: The Last Savoy Sessions

Read "The Last Savoy Sessions" reviewed by AAJ Staff

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2000

Savoy Jazz is taking its re-issues seriously, and so is Orrin Keepnews, the re-issue producer. With taste, dedication, craftsmanship, attention to detail, and style, Savoy recently has released an astounding and seemingly uninterrupted series of recordings from Savoy's heyday. The jazz world is the better for the re-releases, allowing us to investigate the nooks and crannies of earlier jazz work and to revise our assumptions and to add to our knowledge and to acknowledge various influences that heretofore may have ...