Customer Reviews

Elmo Hope Trio

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One of the greatest piano trio recordings stands out-of-print and unreviewed on Amazon.com. Over the years, I have probably listened to this album more than that by any other piano trio. It's endlessly fascinating, due to Hope's spiralling, intricate compositions, which put him in a rarified league with the likes of Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols. Tunes like "Barfly" and "Eejah" are the aural equivalent of those Escher staircases that spiral ever upwards before linking up with themsleves again. But Hope's playing, unlike Monk's -- which always retains an essential sunniness -- has a highly emotional pull, a drunk-slumped-over-a-bar sense of despair. Hope's musical personality is like a character from a Tom Waits song. This album is therefore both cerebral and affecting. Add in an amazing performance by drummer Frank Butler, one of the most underrated jazz musicians of all time, who turns in an astonishingly melodic performance from the drum kit, seemingly in lockstep with every twist and turn in Hope's compositions. And in "Something for Kenny", he does one of those amazing drum solos during which he was able to imperceptibly switch from sticks to his fingertips and back again. Amazing, all around.

This is simply a great recording. It's also an especially sweet find, given that Elmo Hope and Frank Butler are largely forgotten today. Elmo has a very original sound and approach. It could loosely be described as "Monk but with better technique and tone," but that is not really accurate. Frank Butler is an amazing drummer. In my opinion, he stands on equal footing with Max Roach and Roy Haynes. His heroin problem and time away in prison are the main reasons that he never became famous. If you don't already have this (and you probably don't), you should.