The man that turned jazz piano into a solo instrument from simply a rhythm one was Earl “Fatha” Hines (1903-1983). His dancing left hand freed up the instrument to become one in which the piano could solo like a trumpet player, like, say, Louis Armstrong? The two together created and transformed jazz, and while Armstrong stayed with his New Orleans roots, Hines grew and adapted to the big band era of swing as well as into modern sounds, staying hip to the times along with is classic toupee.
These three albums catch Hines at his last renaissance, showing that he could stay up to date with the young cats and still have a foot in his roots.
1972’s An Evening With Earl Hines has him with blues guitar legend Tiny Grimes (who gets some nice solos throughout, particularly on “All Of Me”), electric bassist Hank Young, drummer Bert Dahlander and guest vocalist Marva Josie. Hines is in great form swinging harder than hard on a wild “Boogie Woogie On The St. Louis Blues” and “Perdido”.
Hines was at his best when left to his own, and his solo concert at The New School in March of 1973 is essential Hines. A 16 minute medley of Fats Waller tunes is like a stroll through a musical Smithsonian Institution” while he keeps up to date with a sublime collection of tunes from West Side Story, soloing with authority on “I’ve Got The World On A String” and “The Talk Of The Town”. Piano doesn’t get better than this.
A second solo recital takes place in 1977, and again, Hines is masterful on both pre-swing tunes like “Peg O’ My Heart” and “Memories Of You” as well as sounding definitive on bluesers such as “Wolverine Blues” and “I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues”. His touch, his spaces, his runs and his dexterity are all perfectly timed, toned and taken. This is what a piano was meant to sound like. Imbibe these waters before going on to today’s “artists” that wouldn’t know a straight melody from a straight eight.