Earl Hines’ improvisational style helped shape jazz. His Hot Five sides with Louis Armstrong are historic masterpieces, and the Armstrong-Hines duo “Weather Bird” is one of jazz’s high-watermarks. He went on to lead the first be-bop big band with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker as band members. Hines kept up with the times throughout his career, absorbing and assimilating every new style. Here Hines flows from Dixie to stride and swing, from rocking rhythm and blues to free-wheeling contemporary. Singer Marva Josie shines as the quintet plays the rhythm & blues standard I Just Wanna Make Love to You, as well as I Feel so Smoochy, Hines’ Night In Trinidad and the Cole Porter classic Easy To Love. The Hines originals Second Balcony Jump and Cannery Walk are tasty trio pieces. Ellington classics Passion Flower and Things Ain’t What They Used To Be, as well as All Of Me and Hines’ own Melodica Blues are instrumental quartet pieces featuring Haywood Henry’s polished clarinet and baritone play. All Of Me, My Heart Stood Still and Somebody Loves Me are solo exhibitions of Hines’ depth and breadth as he plays through jazz history. A necessary addition to any ‘Fatha’ Hines collection, and for those not familiar with the man and his music, a good introduction to one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century
