BLP 5044

Elmo Hope - Volume 2

Released - 1954

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, May 9, 1954
Freeman Lee, trumpet; Frank Foster, tenor sax; Elmo Hope, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

BN566-2 tk.3 Crazy
BN567-3 tk.8 Later For You
BN568-1 tk.10 Abdullah
BN569-1 tk.12 Chips
BN570-2 tk.15 Maybe So
BN571-2 tk.18 Low Tide

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images / 
https://www.mosaicrecordsimages.com/

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Crazy	Elmo Hope	May 9 1954
Abdullah	Elmo Hope	May 9 1954
Chips	Elmo Hope	May 9 1954
Side Two
Later For You	Elmo Hope	May 9 1954
Low Tide	Elmo Hope	May 9 1954
Maybe So	Elmo Hope	May 9 1954

Liner Notes

SEVERAL months ago the name of Elmo Hope sprang, apparently from out of nowhere, to a place among the new faces and new sounds of jazz, via his debut on Blue Note LP 5029.

Annotating Elmo's initial effort, on which he offered eight piano solos with rhythm accompaniment, I pointed out that his career had run parallel in many respects with that of Bud Powell, that he had grown up with Bud and had seen service with rhythm-and-blues bands.

In this, his second LP, Elmo increases his bodyguard to four men to make it a novel and intriguing quintet session in which one of the principles, trumpeter Freeman Lee, can also claim to be a refugee from the rhythm-and-blues fraternity. Making his first jazz session here, he is an old friend of Elmo's and reveals a great sympathy for the pianist's ideas in interpreting six original Hope compositions.

Frank Foster, Count Basie's eminent young tenor star, head on his own Blue Note LP as well as in the recent George Wallington orchestral set (Nos. 5042 and 5045 respectively) blows confidently and contently on this session, propelled by a swinging rhythm section that includes, as well as Elmo, those two Blue Note regulars, Percy Heath and Art Blakey.

Elmo's composing has an exotic flavor, somewhat reminiscent at times of the work of Thelonious Monk. Both Crazy and Abdullah, the first two tracks on the A side, are minor-key themes.

Frank Foster, whose personality and style seem to lend themselves well to this type of composition, is especially outstanding in both of these numbers, his somber accents relieved by long, smooth-flowing phrases that swing relentlessly. The solo on Crazy, in particular, should rank as one of his best recorded contributions to date. Art Blakey plays an important role in Crazy, both in underlining solos and ensemble and in his own brief solo.

Abdullah hits a slightly slower groove, using a basic phrase that is rhythmically familiar but melodically new, and offering a particularly colorful solo by Elmo. Chips is a happier, almost jaunty affair by comparison, and is notable for the most effective Freeman Lee performance of the entire set.

The second side opens with Later For You, a trumpet-and-piano unison theme on the familiar and popular All God's Children chord pattern; Foster and Lee are both very much at ease in the setting, and Elmo has a typical solo in long, flowing single-note lines punctuated by left-hand commas and semi-colons. As a variation on the unison idea, Low Tide offers some slightly vertical writing, with a long, relaxed solo by Elmo, easing into a fine Foster chorus. Maybe So returns to the unison basis, but the integration of piano and drums, and the roles they play during the delineation of the theme, constitute a fine illustration of the smooth, professional cooperation so essential to modern jazz.

These sides, like many of the best jazz records, were recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, N.J. This explains the presence on the cover of 20-year-old Rex, a canine member of the van Gelder family, who is seen observing Elmo as the latter studies his cues (or possibly pencils in a couple of new notes) before going into the session. Rex may not make new sounds, but he is certainly a new face.

Although the first Elmo Hope LP also included several of his own compositions, I think this new set will give you a broader picture of his talents as you hear six of his works adapted to small-band interpretation. They lend further strength to the conviction that Elmo is a new star to watch in the jazz sky, one who will shine more brightly the longer he is seen and heard on the musical horizon.

—LEONARD FEATHER
(Down Beat Magazine)

Photo by FRANCIS WOLFF