Elmo Hope - Trio and Quintet
Artist: Elmo Hope
Title: Trio and Quintet
Label: Blue Note
Catalog Number: 11498
Reviewed by Eddie Becton
Pianist Elmo Hope’s status in the jazz world was secured several decades ago. With Blue Note’s latest release, Trio and Quintet, there should be a resurgence of interest in Hope’s work. For his fans, this is good news because the disc does not have the usual foray of eight or, at best, ten songs. Instead, Trio and Quintet is a collection of his songs from 1953, 1954, and 1957 amounting to... rack’em up, twenty songs! Yes, you read correctly.
With a cast of musicians that include the likes of Percy Heath (bass), Art Blakey (drums), Frank Foster (tenor saxophone), and Philly Joe Jones (drums), among others, it’s no wonder Blue Note re-issued this classic collection.
The hardest swinging tracks are It’s A Lovely Today, Mo Is On (indeed he is!), Hot Sauce, Carvin’ The Rock, Abdullah , and Maybe So . All these tracks find the band at a frenetic tempo, playing around, over, and above Hope’s pyrotechnic approach, but still very melodic and congruent. On Sweet and Lovely, I Remember You, Chips, Low Tide, So Nice, and Vaun Ex, Hope demonstrates that he can play at a speed mere mortals can follow!
Perhaps, Trio and Quintet is long overdue, and for jazzers who enjoy blistering, fierce hard bop tunes along with mid-tempo tracks, this is the disc to have. Above all, this disc exemplifies Hope’s versatility as a composer and performer. At times, Hope mirrors Monk and at others, Ellington and Basie. Unmistakably, however, is the fact that Elmo Hope’s voice is clearly his own.
Track Listing: It’s A Lovely Today/ Mo Is On/ Sweet And Lovely/ Happy Hour/ Hot Sauce/ Stars Over Marrakech/ Freffie/ Carvin’ The Rock/ I Remember/ Mo Is On (alternate take)/ Crazy/ Abdullah/ Chips/ Later For You/ Low Tide/ Maybe So/ Crazy (alternate take)/ So Nice/ St. Elmo’s Fire/ Vaun Ex.
Personnel: Elmo Hope – piano; Percy Heath, Leroy Vinnegar – basses; Freeman Lee, Stu Williamson – trumpets; Frank Foster, Harold Land – tenor saxophones; Art Blakey, Frank Butler, Philly Joe Jones – drums.