Elmo Hope: Most Melodic Keys

It seems like the bop era didn’t offer too many oppurtunities for pianists to organize ensembles, record and make it. Of course, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and a bit later Herbie Hancock are exceptions to the rule. But it’d be difficult to name too many more pianists during that epoch in jazz who really affected the genre.

Elmo Hope could have been one of them.

Losing his cabaret card as a result of a drug arrest – smack, natch – Hope high tailed it to the West coast where he’d find himself in the employ of any number of other narcotics users; Chet Baker, etc. Kicking around Los Angeles for a bit, Hope figured New York was still a better spot to ply piano keys and made his way east.

After arriving and again running into trouble with the law, Hope was able to record a bit more prior to his drug induced, 1967 death.

Amongst the scant leader credits in his recorded work, Hope issued Informal Jazz in 1956 through the Prestige label. It’s odd name, intended to reference the jamming in the disc’s grooves, couldn’t have hinted at the line up the album sported, though. John Coltrane and Hank Mobley both on tenor sax, Donald Byrd on trumpet supported by Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chambers in the rhythm section.

With all that talent, one should wonder how Hope would wind up being credited as the date’s leader. The pianist composed two of the four efforts here and expended considerable time reworking the well known standards.

The extended opening track, “Weeja,” doesn’t necessarily represent what’s to be found over the album’s entirety. While each of the endlessly extended solos are interesting in and of themselves, there’s a chaotic feel to the effort that the following track, “Polka Dots And Moonbeams” eschews.

Dispatching such a laid back tune, Hope’s band allows him one of the most melodic and soul rattling solos on the album. It’s all emotive, evoking the final moments of a first date or the end of some fantastic evening. With Mobley coming in to follow up that performance, the track comes off as a thoughtful slow-down amongst all of the bopper’s quick step tempos.

While folks might expect nothing but fireworks from the huge names here, it was early enough in everyone’s career that there was a bit of deference afforded the date leader. It’s not a bummer of a recording, but only sporadically does the disc wind up being as engaging as the line up would lead one to believe it is.