West Coast Piano: Dave Brubeck, Hampton Hawes, Nat King Cole (1944 - 1959)

In the last hour, we heard from Thelonious Monk, Elmo Hope and Herbie Nichols—three closely associated New York pianists in the 1950s. In this hour, we'll return to the West Coast and another trio of pianists representing some of the widely divergent strains of jazz in the 1950s. Nat King Cole was famous first as a swinging pianist, who then developed into a hugely popular ballad singer. Hampton Hawes, a former Charlie Parker band mate, developed bebop into a highly personal style. Dave Brubeck took his classical training and created a body of idiosyncratic work that made his quartet one of the highest selling jazz combos of all time.

Playlist

• Host Intro 0:00
• King Cole Trio "The Man I Love" from Smithsonian Collection of Jazz Piano (Smithsonian) 2:50
• King Cole Trio "Blues In My Shower" from Smithsonian Collection of Jazz Piano (Smithsonian) 6:11
• Host speaks 9:01
• Nat King Cole Trio "I Found a New Baby" from Live at the Circle Room (Capitol) 9:53
• Host speaks 12:25
• Nat King Cole Trio With Harry "Sweets" Edison. "Route 66" from After Midnight (Capitol) 13:14
• Host speaks 16:53
• Hampton Hawes Trio "Steeplechase" from This Is Hampton Hawes Vol. 2 The Trio (Contemporary) 19:44
• Hampton Hawes Trio "Blues the Most" from The Trio Vol. 1 (Contemporary) 22:33
• Hampton Hawes Trio "Hamp's Blues" from The Trio Vol. 1 (Contemporary) 28:17
• Hampton Hawes Trio "Easy Living" from The Trio Vol. 1 (Contemporary) 31:56
• Host speaks 36:44
• Dave Brubeck Quartet "Schizophrenic Scherzo" from Dave Brubeck Octet (Fantasy) 39:50
• Host speaks 42:04
• Dave Brubeck Quartet "Pennies from Heaven" from Brubeck Time (Columbia) 43:10
• Host speaks 49:35
• Dave Brubeck Quartet "Take Five" from Time Out (Columbia) 50:14
• Host Outro 55:35