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Elmo Hope

This profile was inspired by an exceptional article here on All About Jazz by Derek Taylor called “St. Elmo’s Fire” where he focuses and expands on Elmo Hope’s music and recordings.

St. Elmo Sylvester Hope was born in New York on June 27, 1923, began piano studies by age seven and went on to win prizes for his piano recitals. He was a childhood friend of Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk and they would play piano for each other. He continued to play and improve and upon his return from the army in 1943, he dedicated his life to jazz piano, paying his dues in small clubs in the Bronx, Greenwich Village, and Coney Island.

There were recording sessions while he was working with ex-Lionel Hampton trumpeter Joe Morris between 1948 and 1951, but that didn’t really garner much exposure. It was not until June of ’53 where dates with Lou Donaldson and Clifford Brown for Blue Note started to give Elmo Hope a name in jazz circles. He followed quickly with some sessions as leader, and another with Frank Foster, both for Prestige. There were further Prestige sides cut with top players as John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, with Paul Chambers bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. These were originally called “Informal Jazz”, but as Coltrane became a bigger name the title was changed and Hope became regulated to the role of sideman. His piano style was overshadowed by the growing popularity of both Powell and Monk, and though he was in there since the beginning of the bebop movement, he was compared to and judged against the other two. His cabaret license was pulled for a previous drug conviction and this severely limited where he could work if at all. This would start a cycle of disillusionment and frustration that would hound him all his life.

California seemed like the place to try it next, and so in 1957 he went west with Chet Baker. Hope was suffering from respiratory aliments, and the dry climate suited him just fine. There was a brief spell working with Lionel Hampton, then joining Harold Land, with whom he recorded “The Fox” in ’59, followed by a session with his own trio. He married in California in 1960, and was at least happy and healthy. But there was not much work out on the coast for a bebop pianist, and he grew restless again. So it was back to New York, where in ’61 he recorded “Homecoming” (Riverside) with Blue Mitchell, Jimmy Heath, and Frank Foster, these sessions included Percy Heath on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums, who were on his trio sides at this time. There was a solo piano effort where he was joined by his wife Bertha, also a pianist. There were a couple of more recordings in ’61 for the Celebrity and Beacon labels, which were remakes of some of his older material.

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Reassessing

New Faces - New Sounds

Read "New Faces - New Sounds" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Jazz is littered with musicians like Elmo Hope: young, talented and, ultimately, doomed because of racism, poverty, and chemical dependency. Born in jny: New York City, the son of immigrants from the Caribbean, Hope managed to release more than a baker's dozen of studio recordings in as many years, before dying of drug addiction-related health problems in 1967 at the age of 43. Hope was primarily known as a jazz composer with a spare, deliberate piano style more akin to ...

1
Album Review

Elmo Hope: Trio and Quintet

Read "Trio and Quintet" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff


Questo è uno dei pochi dischi di Elmo Hope in circolazione oggi in Italia. Un plauso alla Blue Note che l'aveva già pubblicato in CD (con identica copertina e stessi brani) 15 anni fa ed oggi lo riedita per il beneficio di chi se l'era perso.Dopo anni di totale oblio, lo sfortunato pianista e compositore bop ha avuto nel decennio scorso una certa rivalutazione critica ma dal pubblico jazz è ancora ampiamente ignorato.Un vero peccato, perché ...

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Recording

Backgrounder: Elmo Hope - Complete Trios

Backgrounder: Elmo Hope - Complete Trios

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Pianist Elmo Hope's centenary was on June 27. To celebrate the bebop pianist and composer, here are five hours of Hope's trio recordings between 1953 and 1966. Before I serve up the music, here are the tracks and trios and their respective times on the Backgrounder: New Faces—-New Sounds (1953), with Elmo Hope (p), Percy Heath (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d). 0:00:02 Happy Hour 0:02:54 Freffie 0:05:59 Carvin' the Rock 0:08:52 Hot Sauce 0:12:45 Mo Is On 0:15:33 Stars ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Elmo Hope's birthday today!

This profile was inspired by an exceptional article here on All About Jazz by Derek Taylor called “St. Elmo’s Fire” where he focuses and expands on Elmo Hope’s music and recordings.St. Elmo Sylvester Hope was born in New York on June 27, 1923, began piano studies by age seven and went on to win prizes for his piano recitals. He was a childhood friend of Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk and ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Elmo Hope's birthday today!

This profile was inspired by an exceptional article here on All About Jazz by Derek Taylor called “St. Elmo’s Fire” where he focuses and expands on Elmo Hope’s music and recordings.St. Elmo Sylvester Hope was born in New York on June 27, 1923, began piano studies by age seven and went on to win prizes for his piano recitals. He was a childhood friend of Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk and ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Elmo Hope's birthday today!

This profile was inspired by an exceptional article here on All About Jazz by Derek Taylor called “St. Elmo’s Fire” where he focuses and expands on Elmo Hope’s music and recordings.St. Elmo Sylvester Hope was born in New York on June 27, 1923, began piano studies by age seven and went on to win prizes for his piano recitals. He was a childhood friend of Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk and ...

Video / DVD

Elmo Hope and Joe Morris

Elmo Hope and Joe Morris

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Bebop's fast tempo and complex rhythms were embraced by modern-jazz fans when the jazz style emerged in the mid-1940s. But bop also provided jump blues with an opening. Bebop was spectacular and electrifying, but it wasn't for dancing. It was mostly for sitting and listening. As a result, the big-beat, horn-driven dance music made major inroads in Black neighborhoods and in the record market. By 1949, R&B was so popular that Billboard started an official R&B chart. Hundreds of R&B ...

Recording

Elmo Hope Trio

Elmo Hope Trio

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In 1957, pianist Elmo Hope moved from New York to Los Angeles. He had little choice. His cabaret license was suspended following a drug conviction, and the only place where he had musician friends and the likelihood of work was on the West Coast. As Leonard Feather remarks in his liner notes for one of Hope's finest recordings, Elmo Hope Trio (Contemporary), “black musicians in the late 1950s and early '60s constituted a jazz underground; they surfaced occasionally on a ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Elmo Hope's birthday today!

This profile was inspired by an exceptional article here on All About Jazz by Derek Taylor called “St. Elmo’s Fire” where he focuses and expands on Elmo Hope’s music and recordings.St. Elmo Sylvester Hope was born in New York on June 27, 1923, began piano studies by age seven and went on to win prizes for his piano recitals. He was a childhood friend of Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk and ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Elmo Hope's birthday today!

This profile was inspired by an exceptional article here on All About Jazz by Derek Taylor called “St. Elmo’s Fire” where he focuses and expands on Elmo Hope’s music and recordings. St. Elmo Sylvester Hope was born in New York on June 27, 1923, began piano studies by age seven and went on to win prizes for his piano recitals. He was a childhood friend of Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Elmo Hope's birthday today!

This profile was inspired by an exceptional article here on All About Jazz by Derek Taylor called “St. Elmo’s Fire” where he focuses and expands on Elmo Hope’s music and recordings. St. Elmo Sylvester Hope was born in New York on June 27, 1923, began piano studies by age seven and went on to win prizes for his piano recitals. He was a childhood friend of Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Jazz Musician of the Day: Elmo Hope

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Elmo Hope's birthday today!

This profile was inspired by an exceptional article here on All About Jazz by Derek Taylor called “St. Elmo’s Fire” where he focuses and expands on Elmo Hope’s music and recordings. St. Elmo Sylvester Hope was born in New York on June 27, 1923, began piano studies by age seven and went on to win prizes for his piano recitals. He was a childhood friend of Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk ...

Kim A. Clarke
bass, acoustic
Gregory Lewis
organ, Hammond B3

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Complete Studio...

Gambit Records
2023

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Elmo Hope Plays His...

Fresh Sound Records
1992

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Lenny McBrowne And...

Jazz Workshop (2)
1992

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Take One

Blue Note Records
1992

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The Final Sessions -...

P-Vine Records
1991

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The Final Sessions -...

P-Vine Records
1991

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Videos

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