Just how tall an artist must be to qualify as a Giant of Jazz has never been defined, but in almost every Short List of The Tallest the name of Earl Hines is likely to figure, along with those of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and Johnny Hodges. ln the assessment of jazz giants, a high level of technical proficiency is desirable and must be taken into consideration. Yet many musicians have this without ever attaining anything but a lowly artistic stature. The vital factor of course, is that spark or flame which is of the spirit, and which we usually end up describing, a little lamely, as genius. Whatever else it may be, it is a gift, something that cannot be bought or acquired, something that no school can teach. It is something that Earl Hines possesses abundantly. For more than thirty years, his has been a major influence in jazz. Nat Cole and Teddy Wilson, two of the many pianists to have been inspired by him, have recently paid him public tribute. There were some who imitated aspects of his work very closely, but despite always recognizable characteristics, his style was never static, never ingrowing. It was, rather, an expanding idiom in which he constantly expressed new thoughts. You may well have heard him playing the blues on records before, but never quite as he does here on the fast "Brussels’ Hustle" and on the slow "Oooh !". For after all his years of professional application to the keyboard, Earl remains, with his unexcelled rhythmic command, an instinctive, improvising jazzman.
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The session presented on this record has all the qualities of the inspired jam session, which we like to think of as taking place "'round midnight" or "after hours", when the musicians are relaxed and blowing for their own pleasure. In fact, due to unavoidable circumstances, this one took place at 9 o'clock in the morning ! Far from causing dismay, the early hour seems to have acted as a kind of challenge, with the result that the Fatha's solo on the first number is as exciting as even he has ever produced ; and on "Backroom at the Villa d'Este" he builds to a stormy climax that recalls the years when his was one of the greatest big bands on the scene. The title, incidentally, refers to Earl's favourite London restaurant during those weeks in 1957 when he led a group of all-stars jointly with trombonist lack Teagarden. Brussels’ hustle is for jazz authority Yannick Bruynoghe, a citizen of the Belgian capital who, happening to be in San Francisco at a most auspicious time, supervised this date. Oooh ! — well, it's the kind of expression the lowdown blues is apt to wring from you, isn't it ?
Stanley Dance (from the original Liner Notes)
Cozy Cole
Caravan
Tracks
1 Brussel's Hustle (Hines) 7:55
2 Oooh ! (Hines) 5:02
3 Backroom at the Villa d'Este (Hines) 6:46
4 Caravan (Ellington, Tizol) 9:57
5 Phatz' Blues (Morris, Thompson) 5:18
6 Margie (Davis, Conrad, Robinson) 4:26
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Personnel
[# 1-3]
Curtis Lowe - ts & bs
Earl Hines - p
Charles Oden - b
Earl Watkins - dr
Recorded in San Francisco ; February 3, 1958
[# 4-6]
Lou Jones - tp
Phatz Morris - tb & hrmc
Boe McCain - ts
June Cole - p
Dicky Thompson - g & vcl
Pete Compo - b
Cozy Cole - dr
Recorded in New York ; February 7, 1958