Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

Undoubtedly the greatest of the modern pianists has been Bud Powell who despite illness has managed to cram into a relatively short period some of the greatest virtuoso performances ever played by a jazzman, pianist or otherwise. His influence has been widespread among both the pianists who were playing in the period of his flowing in the Forties and the young pianists who have risen in the Fifties. Players like George Wallington, Al Haig and Elmo Hope date back to the beginning of the bop movement and grew musically alongside of Bud. It may not be clear who came first and I’m sure that each exerted a certain influence of his own on the others but Bud emerged as the greatest in this style.

Immediately after this period came more pianists who had been influenced by the bop idiom. In the East, there was Gene Di Novi who was more Haig-like and in the West, Joe Albany who showed more of a direct Charlie Parker rather than Bud Powell influence. As the Forties moved along more counties were heard from. In Chicago there was Lou Levy, in New York Hank Jones made a switch from Wilson and Tatum to Powell. Among others heard in New York were Harvey Leonard, Walter Bishop Jr. and later Kenny Drew. Via several jam session type recordings and two other records with Sonny Criss a young pianist named Hampton Hawes was heard from on the West Coast.

In the early Fifties another young pianist named Horace Silver was hired by Stan Getz and received a chance to be heard outside his Hartford, Connecticut home area. What we heard was another Powell disciple with his own twist. As Horace began to develop an even more personal style, certain characteristics came to the fore; his basic right hand attack became more deliberate and pattern conscious and his insistent left hand (both hands when he was comping for someone else) really utilized the percussive aspect of the piano. A branch had grown on the Powell tree and certain pianists such as John Williams, who like Horace had originally stood in the shade of Bud’s foliage, now were picking and eating the Silver apples. As a result there were so many silver seeds that a new tree grew up alongside of the Powell. To conclude the fable: this Silver tree had strong roots and pieced the earth deeply. It was so earthy that it was dubbed “funky”.

The subject of the “funky” school of piano playing has been under discussion very often in 1956 and several misconceptions were advanced as a result of some of the comments in an article called The New Pianism in the June 27th issue of Down Beat, cocktail lounge jazz pianist-jazz critic John Mehegan did his best to confuse a lot of people and I’m sure he mislead many. Mehegan stated that “Horace Silver has been the major influence in the West Coast movement led by Hampton Hawes and Russ Freeman.” It is true that Russ absorbed something of Horace by a kind of osmosis but he was playing in the general manner of his present style before Horace was nationally known. (I don’t believe Mehegan was too familiar with Joe Albany.). As for Hawes, Hamp was playing his hard attacking style, in person and on record (Bopera, etc) back in the Forties at a time when Horace was gigging in Connecticut and still unrecorded. Mehegan went on to talk about the cliches of the funky pianists (I wouldn’t bring too much attention to cliches John) and how “Hawes is more distinguishable because of obvious Shearing and Peterson influences.” I assume he meant distinguishable from the other pianists he named in that same paragraph including Lou Levy and Pete Jolly. First of all, Hawes is distinguishable by what he plays and the way he plays it and anyone with an ear could pick him out even if he did not play a locked hands chord style at times. Didn’t Jimmy Jones and Milt Buckner play this style before we (or Hawes) heard Shearing or Peterson. We can just as easily say that Hawes was influenced by Buckner. The only thing obvious is Mehegan.

We now have two separate schools with finer definitions within each and at the same time interrelated influences between the two.

The Powell wing, although it cannot be termed “funky” in the same sense we term the other, still has a definite essence of that earthy characteristic running strongly through most of its members. Here it is more of a by-product than a salient feature. Add to the names mentioned earlier those of Ray Bryant, Tommy Flanagan, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly and Wade Legge. Some who are even more directly Powell persuaded are Barry Harris, Walter Davis, Gildo Mahones and Freddie Redd. Mal Waldron, touched by Powell, has also been shaped by Monk.

The “funky” school is well represented by John Williams, George Syran, Pete Jolly, Eddie Costa, Bobby Scott and West Coaster Walter Norris (a Freeman follower). They have been affected by Silver in varying degrees and have also definitely listened to Powell. Another funker is Bob Brookmeyer when he graces the keyboard. Claude Williamson has been persuaded by both schools.

Hampton Hawes has a foot in each school and yet is in neither directly. The Powell division would have to claim him as he has been influenced by Bud but more by his general idiom than specifically. Self-admittedly Charlie Parker has been his strongest influence. His funkiness is quote his own and not derived from Silver. In addition to the hard attacking right hand line he uses the locked hands chord style as mentioned before. Walter Bishop and Red Garland are other Powellites who use locked hands each in his own manner. Hamp’s style is further marked by insinuating accents, rising and falling, with staccato phrases used as starting blocks (sprinter’s and hurdler’s varieth) and short multi-noted bursts as punctuations. Many of the pianists on the West Coast have learned by listening to him. Sonny Clark and Richard Wyands have been directly affected. They might be said to be Powell filtered through Hawes in the same way that Tommy Flanagan is Powel filtered through Hank Jones.

The recordings with the quartet were made during a Christmas furlough in Hollywood while Hamp was in the Army. Larry Bunker was playing drums with Billy May at the time and was also in town for a short time. Local rhythm men Clarence Jones and Larry Marable (one of the top drummers on the Coast) were quickly recruited to complete the personnel.

Bunker is a native Californian like Hawes and was born on November 4, 1928 (nine days before Hamp). An excellent drummer-vibist who was just beginning to be heard on the latter instrument at the time of this session, Larry reminds one of the early Terry Gibbs (Allen Eager Savoy recordings) with a free swing and a natural vitality. Like Hamp, Larry is a hard swinger; the vibes-piano combination never sounds Shearingesque.

Freddie Redd is directly in the Powell tradition. Born in New York on May 29, 1928 he didn’t take up the piano until 1947. After hearing Powell a year earlier he had become inspired to play. Since he was living in Harlem he had a chance to hear Bud in person very often as well as on record. As in the case with young artists who idolize greats of their chosen field, Freddie even had his hair cut like Bud. An imitator can go so far and Freddie realized this. Through the years of working with the likes of Ike Quebec, Lou Donaldson, Sonny Rollins, Cootie Williams, Art Blakey, Joe Roland, Art Farmer and Coleman Hawkins he developed his personal approach to the Powell idiom. He is a quick thinker who is always coming up with new, long melodic lines as he improvises. He is a warmer-upper too. I’ve heard him play at many sessions for countless choruses, getting better as he went (note Ready Freddie). The thinking of his single line attack is not dropped for the arpeggio on his ballad offering either.

Philadelphia born bassist John Ore and active New York drummer Ron Jefferson are his rhythmic companions here.

Recently Freddie returned from Sweden where he received much praise for his work with the touring Rolf Ericson unit.