Earl Hines - Jazz in Paris: Paris One Night Stand

Great example of Earl Hines in his Prime.

Earl Fatha Hines is on Fire in Paris. This is the Greatest Jazz pianist in the History of America Jazz. If Mozart played Jazz Piano this is how he would sound. June 2, 2008

"Fatha Hines" Catches A Break

Like a lot of black American jazz musicians in the 1950s and 1960s, when playing in the U.S., Earl "Fatha" Hines was stuck performing music he was good at but didn't necessarily love to perform - in his case, after 1948 or so, mostly Dixieland standards. It paid the bills. But in 1957 he went to Europe, where he cut two albums in Paris playing the much more modern jazz he had pioneered and at which he excelled. This CD combines both records on one disc, and if you haven't heard "Fatha" Hines much, this is a great place to start. You can hear some of his signature innovations, such as a left hand that played almost recklessly with timing, acting almost like impulsive punctuation to his precision right hand. It was a departure from stride piano that influenced probably every major piano jazzman after him. You can also hear a couple selections of the Dixieland he was slotted into in the U.S. - notably, a fine version of "Muskrat Ramble" without the Dixieland band, but with plenty of strut remaining - it's different from what you might expect in this genre and very interesting. He's playing with a small ensemble on these cuts, so you won't hear examples of his big-band skills, the ones that had him playing for years with longtime friend Louis Armstrong, but you'll hear just about every other style that made him famous. He died in 1983 so when I saw this terrific compilation of late 50s pre-comeback cuts, I was delighted. Highly recommended. December 26, 2004

A thing of beauty

I liked every track on this CD on the first play. This rarely happens. Earl Hines had an beautiful sence of melody backed up by virtuoso technique. Come to think of it so did Louis Armstrong. This is probably why these two got along so well. I find there is a lot of jazz out there that is just too complex for my liking. Often the melody is lost and so am I. Not so on this one. A bargain price for a great CD. November 1, 2004

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