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Earl Hines Solo Recommendations


paul secor

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I have several Earl Hines solo recordings in my collection, and love listening to them. He, Monk, and Cecil are probably my favorite solo pianists, and Earl Hines is definitely the most unpredictable - I might even use the term "free".

Anyway, I'd like to hear more, and I know that you guys will steer me right. So what are your favorites?

Thanks in advance. I hope that others will find this interesting and informative.

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My favorites are the Ellington volumes on Master Jazz/New World. Amazing stuff!

I have a Danish cd of early thirties solos that is really nice as well. . . but I keep coming back to the pairing of the amazing fingerwork of Hines (unpredicatable, I really like that choice of word) and the amazing compositions of Ellington.

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The Swaggies.

The Black Lions.

The Chiaroscuros.

The Solo Art set.

Plays Cole Porter on New World.

Master of Jazz on Storyville.

And, if you can find it, Plays George Gershwin (last available on a Musidisc cd).

It is a shame the 3 "Quintessential" lps on Chiaroscuro haven't been reissued.

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Chuck has listed most of the essential Earl Hines solo dates.

I would like to add the Audiophile series (not sure the vinyls have been reissued on CD) that included solo explorations of works by W.C. Handy, Louis Armstrong and Hoagy Carmichael. I am currently on a Hoagy Carmichael kick and that Hines Audiophile vinyl (Hines Does Hoagy) is a favorite on my current playlist!

A superb album that has few matches. Yes, Fatha knew best!

At some time there were new albums from Hines appearing every week (or two weeks at the most) and at some point I was about to give up. Glad I did not, most of those albums are now unavailable and it's a damn shame.

One more Hines I have to recommend is the M&K RealTime 'Earl 'Fatha' Hines Plays Hits He Missed', one of those direct-to-disc album, with Red Callender and Bill Douglas!

And there are also the Black and Blue albums (the Hines/Budd Johnson 'Dirty Old Men' session remains exhilarating), and there are so many more...

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Thanks for all the (quick) responses. If I acquire and listen to everything I don't already have, I'll be busy listening (happily), and my wallet will be thinner (not such a happy thing - but the first outweighs the second).

Does anyone have a take on At Home (Delmark)? Perhaps it would have come up, but I figured I'd ask just in case it didn't.

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I really dig the 2nd half of this Atlantic 2-fer ("Another Monday Date") which is all solo. Mostly his own compositions.

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Chuck - the Porter and Gershwin sets sound intriguing. Is the Porter one hard to find as well?

If I had to desert island pick one solo pianist - it would be Earl Hines.

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Chuck - the Porter and Gershwin sets sound intriguing. Is the Porter one hard to find as well?

If I had to desert island pick one solo pianist - it would be Earl Hines.

The Porter recording is currently available from New World Records. There are actually 2 Gershwin programs and both were recorded in the Fall of '73. The other one is currently available on Swaggie.

Brownie, the Solo Art set I mentioned contains the 3 Audiophile lps you recommended.

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One more Hines I have to recommend is the M&K RealTime 'Earl 'Fatha' Hines Plays Hits He Missed', one of those direct-to-disc album, with Red Callender and Bill Douglas!

Reissued on a Drive archive CD, I believe. A fine side, to be sure.

And talk about unpredictable - he plays "Birdland"!

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How many favorites can one have? I really enjoy a lot of Hines work, but my favorites are those I mentioned.

Poor Paul! He'll go broke if he buys all our favorites! :D

If we're talking NONsolo Hines, I really like that Delmark of material with Ellingtonians.

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I have to confess complete surprise upon reading ""Earl Hines is definitely the most unpredictable - I might even use the term free" -- and comparisons to Monk and Cecil. I'm (almost) completely clueless when it comes to Mr. Hines, and I've been meaning to remedy that.

Thanks for all the recommendations!

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You didn't! :D

There are two things that I really like about Hines' solo playing.

One: there's no cocktail prettiness. Or I've never heard it. Not that I dislike me some cocktail prettiness, but it's all jazz with Earl.

Two: he has this unique to my ears drive and rhythm. He just seems to motor along like a '30s roadster on a winding road and always have just the right amount of throttle. . . . It's exhilirating.

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I do wish we had a bunch of folks here to compare the late solo recordings. For example, while I admire the Hines/Ellington stuff "pianistically" but don't think much of the material challenges the best qualities of Hines (not the fault of either, just a happenstance). I much prefer his Arlen, Gershwin, Carmichael, Armstrong, Dallwitz and Hines.

I'd love to jump into something like that.

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I do wish we had a bunch of folks here to compare the late solo recordings. For example, while I admire the Hines/Ellington stuff "pianistically" but don't think much of the material challenges the best qualities of Hines (not the fault of either, just a happenstance). I much prefer his Arlen, Gershwin, Carmichael, Armstrong, Dallwitz and Hines.

I'd love to jump into something like that.

I'll have to do a lot more listening before I'll have anything useful to say in that kind off discussion, but I'll try and start.

In the meantime, I'll add one solo Hines from my collection:

Spontaneous Explorations - originally on Contact, and later reissued on a Red Baron CD, along with Here Comes, a trio side with Richard Davis and Elvin Jones.

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Earl Hines is definitely the most unpredictable - I might even use the term "free".

this what I like from the late Hines I've heard. Got to be modernistic me thinks. I tend to agree with Chuck with regards the Ellington material on Swaggie , it's a bit more by the numbers ( ie straight) , fewer liberties taken.

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Would love to jump in, but a near week-long bout of respiratory flu prevents full participation. Did listen tonight to side one of "Hines Play Hines" on Swaggie -- those towers of rhythmic independence he builds are amazing; that was a great day in the studio -- and to the almost 11-minute "The Man I Love" (also on Swaggie); its lovely framing device seemingly Hines' personal nod to the composer.

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Skipping through the Ellington volumes, I think I see what Chuck means up to a point -- for instance on Vol. Two, Side B, "It Don't Mean a Thing" is too straight and respectful, almost boring (i.e. by Hines standards). But then the rest of that side -- "I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart," "Satin Doll," "In A Sentimental Mood" -- is very inventive, albeit on the tasteful side at times (though that does wonders for "Satin Doll"), and Vol. Four, Side B leads off with a "Black Butterfly" that is fine throught and eventually gets damn wild. As the notes explain, all the tunes on that volume were new to Hines, and on "BB"" he literally seems to be playing it for the very first time as the tape rolls, then builds and builds on it for more than 10 minutes -- quite an experience, for the listener for sure and it seems for Hines too.

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I guess I just love Ellington so and the Hinesian take, even conservatively, on the numbers just so pleases me. And there are moments where it is just somethin' else I must say.

I was going to dig out all my "late Hines solo" stuff and listen and see if I could contribute more, but I discovered that the late stuff that I have is predominantly NOT solo! Holes to plug. . .over time. (My purchases are going to be spare this year, so will be some time!)

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I have several Earl Hines solo recordings in my collection, and love listening to them. He, Monk, and Cecil are probably my favorite solo pianists, and Earl Hines is definitely the most unpredictable - I might even use the term "free".

Anyway, I'd like to hear more, and I know that you guys will steer me right. So what are your favorites?

Thanks in advance. I hope that others will find this interesting and informative.

'Free' is the right term, imo. One of the first jazz CDs I ever bought was Hines live at the Village Vanguard (Limelight recording with Hawk and Eldridge). Exciting stuff. I think I would rather listen to Hines than just about any other pianist--those tremolos, the unpredictable rhythmic shifts etc. I love it all. Where Art Tatum sounds cold and stiff to me, Hines just brims with spontanaity (even though he must have played Honeysuckle Rose a thousand times, he's still digging into it like it's brand new).

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