Elmo Hope

   
Artist: Elmo Hope

   Genre(s): 
Jazz
   

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Discography:


   
 The All Star Sessions

   Year: 1976   
Tracks: 11

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Overshadowed throughout his life by his friends Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, Elmo Hope was a gifted pianist and composer whose life story was cut short by drugs. His number 1 important gig was with Joe Morris' R&B band (1948-1951). He recorded in New York as a leader (starting in 1953) and with Sonny Rollins, Lou Donaldson, Clifford Brown, and Jackie McLean, only the loss of his nightclub card (due to his dose use) made it very hard for him to make a living in New York. After touring with Chet Baker in 1957, Hope resettled to Los Angeles. He performed with Lionel Hampton in 1959, recorded with Harold Land and Curtis Counce, and returned to New York in 1961. A short prison prison term did niggling to help his dose problem and, although he sounds fine on his trio performances of 1966, he died a small over a year later on. Elmo Hope's sessions as a leader were cut for Blue Note, Prestige, Pacific Jazz, Hi Fi Jazz, Riverside, Celebrity, Beacon, and Audio Fidelity; his last albums were initially released on Inner City. Hope was also a fine composer, although none of his songs became standards.