Search - Earl Hines :: Piano Man

Piano man, indeed!

George H. Soule | Edwardsville, Illinois United States | 07/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Earl Hines was THE Piano Man. If you read Stanley Dance's book about the Ellington orchestra, almost every member he interviewed cites Earl Hines as an influence--either as bandleader or musician. He was an established musician in 1927-28 when he and Louis Armstrong revolutionized jazz in Chicago with the Hot Fives and he ran a successful orchestra throughout the so called Swing era into the late '40s. The 1947 version of the Hines orchestra accommodated Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. This disc is a retrospective of his career that spans the Hot Five era (1927-1928) through the Swing band period to 1941. The four classics from the Hot Five band include "Weather Bird," the Armstrong-Hines duet that some consider one of the seminal jazz masterpieces. The other, "West End Blues," is sadly not in this collection. Still there are the Bechet-Hines collaboration on "Blues in Thirds" and abundant examples of Hine's solo piano ("A Monday Date," "Stowaway, "Chimes in Blues," "Fifty-Seven," "The Father's Getaway") the stuff that made his reputation as a young man. That in itself is cause enough to own this collection. Here is the man with the virtuoso skills and the left hand that Nat Cole admired. Hines was the master from whom Teddy Wilson learned, a pianist who influenced all of the modern jazz greats. And this anthology also contains his classic "Rosetta" and "Boogie Woogie on St. Louis Blues." Unfortunately, the collection does not go beyond 1941; consequently, there are no samples of Hines' performances with the Louis Armstrong All Stars (1951) that included Barney Bigard and Jack Teagarden. Nor does it contain Hines' exquisite solo and combo work that he continued until his death in 1983."

Why this is some of the best music you'l lever hear...

HepCatSwinger | 09/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're a jazz collector you'll most likely arleady have all of these sides,however if you just want a sample or intro to one of the great jazz pianists/big band leaders of the 21st century, buy it."