Hampton Hawes – Four! With B. Kessel, S. Manne: Contemporary AS Series (180g Vinyl LP)

Contemporary Records 70th Anniversary Series 180g Vinyl LP Reissue All-Analog Mastered from the Original Tapes by Bernie Grundman!

2021 marked 70 years of Contemporary Records, the Los Angeles-based audiophile jazz label that both defined and radically expanded the sound of West Coast jazz. Throughout the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, Lester Koenig’s artist-friendly company released career-defining performances by some of modern jazz’s most influential and accomplished improvisers, including Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Hampton Hawes, Art Pepper, Harold Land, Shelly Manne and Teddy Edwards. In celebrating the history of this essential label and its exceptional catalog, Craft Recordings is releasing a variety of content throughout the coming year.

Much like Art Pepper, a fellow Angelino, Hampton Hawes would make an excellent subject for a Hollywood biopic (and like Pepper’s memoir Straight Life, Hawes’ Raise Up Off Me is a classic account of the jazz life that could serve as the screenplay). Even more memorable than his evocative prose were his funky, irrepressibly grooving trio and quartet sessions for Contemporary, his primary label throughout his career. Like a West Coast Horace Silver, Hawes honed an utterly personal church-steeped sound inspired by but not beholden to bebop, and this collection captures the breadth and depth of one of jazz’s most appealing yet unsung pianists.

Four! highlights the timeless talents of Hawes (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Shelly Manne (drums) and Red Mitchell (bass). First released in 1958 and recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann, this new edition features all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman. The record is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP and presented in a Stoughton Old Style Tip-On Jacket.

1. Yardbird Suite
2. There Will Never Be Another You
3. Bow Jest
4. Sweet Sue
5. Up Blues
6. Like Someone in Love
7. Love Is Just Around the Corner