"Hawes, never having achieved popular acclaim in spite of or because of his pure and unwavering musicianship, undoubtedly found the prospect of earning a great deal of money in early middle age intriguing, at least. So he went along with their program. The albums that resulted had neither the burning creativity of his customary music nor the peculiar and unexplainable alchemy that creates pop heroes. The records, like one he had made of movie themes a few years earlier, could have been done by any competent pianist. Indeed, they were so colorless, it would have been difficult in a blindfold test for any but his most ardent followers to identify him.
"That period of attempted commerciality lasted only a short while, but it interrupted Hamp's recorded output during a time when his playing had taken on even greater depth and thoughtfulness than it contained in the 1950s and sixties. Fortunately, he return to recording uncompromising and uncompromised music, and we have evidence of how well he was playing during his final period. This album provides some of that evidence. There is more on the Art Pepper 'Living Legend' LP listed in the accompanying discography.
"Charlie Haden was another of the artists on the Pepper session, the first time he and Hawes had played together in a couple of decades. Their communion was so impressive, it seemingly became inevitable that the two of othem would make their own record.
"Haden has played with jazzmen of all styles and virtually all eras. One of his most impressive performances as a sideman was on a concert recording with Red Allen and Pee Wee Russell, then cursty and eccentric survivors of the rich classic jazz period of the twenties and thirties. This was at a time when Haden had make his reputation as a member of the Ornette Coleman Quartet, the most revolutionary, disturbing and iconoclastic band of the 1960s.
"Since, of course, it has become clear to all but the most reactionary that Coleman and his colleagues were working closer to the center and roots of jazz than most of us realized. Haden, for all his virtuosity and his identification with the avant garde, has always been a player in the central jazz tradition. Pee Wee Russell called him a stompin' bass player. Yet, he is capable of the most delicate filigree. Both aspects of Haden abound in the music at hand.
"Harmonically, Hawes was one of the richest jazz pianists, and among the joys of this album is Haden's ability to interact with him without conflicting with his harmonies. One of the great testimonials to the astounding speed and selectivity of the human mind is the superior jazzman's instant identification and execution of notes suitable to the harmonic choices of his companions. This is particularly impressive in the context of total improvisations like Hawes' and Haden's 'Hello/Goodbye'. With no preconceived melodic or harmonic plan, the musicians create a composition in which all of the parts fit as if they had been annotated.
"Yes, for many listeners, the most accessible music here will be 'Irene', with its deceptively simple-seeming melody and its gutsy blues choruses, and the familiar progressions of 'What Is This Thing Called Love?' That Cole Porter staple was a part of Hawes' first trio album for the Contemporary label in middle 1950s. It is a song that he, like most graduates of the bop era, loved for its qualities of order and contrast. It has served as the basis for Tadd Dameron's classic 'Hot House'. Hawes and Haden give it a varied treatment, from rhapsodic to straight down the middle, but the overall feeling is of contentment. Haden calls his treatment 'This Is Called Love'.
"This entire session, although it produced moments of unalloyed excitement, has the relaxed air only master improvisers can bring to a jazz performance. And the album, like all records of worthwhile music, reveals more with each hearing.
"At this writing, Charlie Haden has withdrawn from music for a period of contemplation and spiritual renewal. It would be unthinkable that he remain away from jazz for long: he is too vital a force in its development and too valuable a stabilizing link to its immediate past.
"Hawes, after a life packed with disastrous personal low points and glorious artistic peaks, is gone. He never made the charts of popular best sellers, and he was probably discouraged to the point of pain that he was not materially rewarded in proportion to what he knew to be the size of his musical contribution. His legacy is in the music that remains so fresh and alive in the best of his recordings, and in the influence his playing has had upon a generation of musicians. As the years go by, it will become increasingly clear that Hampton Hawes was a major contributor to the jazz tradition." (Doug Ramsay. From the liner notes.)
Performers: Charlie Haden (bs), Hampton Hawes (pi)
1. Irene
2. Rain Forest
3. Turnaround
4. As Long As There's Music
5. This Is Called Love
6. Hello/Goodbye
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