By the late 1950s in Los Angeles, golf had become as vital to a jazz musician's income as a working automobile. The sport was a social meeting ground, a place to get to know musicians off the bandstand. Several of the West Coast jazz musicians I've interviewed over the years talked about the importance of the golf course in terms of camaraderie and networking. This was especially true for black musicians, who were able to build friendships with more established black and white musicians who could help them with gigs and recording dates.
But early in the decade, there had been a problem. Most courses in Los Angeles didn't allow blacks, Jews, Italians and other ethnic groups. That changed in 1955, when Maggie Hathaway, a black social activist, applied for membership at the Chester Washington Golf Course's Women’s Golf Club. Rejected, she went to see Kenneth Hahn, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and a supporter of civil rights. She explained that public courses dependent on tax dollars couldn't discriminate. Hahn agreed and the course's management team was replaced. He also compelled other publicly funded courses to diversify. [Photo above from left, Hadda (Hopgood) Brooks, Maggie Hathaway and Dorothy Dandridge at Gibbs Jockey Club Cafe in Los Angeles in the late 1940s]
The reason I'm telling you all of this is that I'm fairly certain that the iconic photo by Richard Gross on the cover of Hampton Hawes's Four! album was taken at Chester Washington. Recorded in January 1958 for Contemporary, the album featured Hawes on piano accompanied by guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Shelly Manne. Unlike most piano-led ensemble sessions at the time, this one was more of a musical dialogue between four superb West Coast jazz musicians. [Photo above of Hampton Hawes by K. Abe/Shinko Music]
The tracks on the LP are Charlie Parker's Yardbird Suite, There Will Never Be Another You, Red Mitchell's Bow Jest, Sweet Sue, and Hampton Hawes's Up Blues. Two additional tracks wound up on the CD release: Thou Swell and Hawes's gospel blues The Awful Truth. [Photo above of Shelly Manne]
The album is notable not only for its engaging and elegant improvisational exchanges but also for its swinging, upbeat feel. As Nat Hentoff points out in the album's liner notes, the album marked a couple of firsts. Bow Jest was Mitchell's first recording of a bowed solo. And the album marked the first time Hawes played Love Is Just Around the Corner, learning it as he went along. [Photo above of Barney Kessel]
As Hawes told Nat:
I started to look at the chords and found I'd listened to it sometime, somewhere. I had it in my mind, I guess, because I was playing the right chords.
The playing is nothing short of remarkable. Hawes is at his peak here and would go on to record several important albums in 1958, including For Real, Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders and The Sermon before a drug bust on November 13, his birthday. He was imprisoned following his unwillingness to reveal his dealers and testify against them. His musical interactions with each musician are remarkable. Beyond the surface sound of four musicians playing together, listen for each of the duo exchanges. The sound of four artists creating extraordinary music and having a ball.
Hampton Hawes died in 1977, Barney Kessel in 2004, Red Mitchell in 1992 and Shelly Manne in 1984.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Hampton Hawes's Four! (Contemporary) here.
Earlier this year, Concord's Craft label re-issued Four! on 180-gram vinyl (above) mastered from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman. The sound is fantastic. You'll find it here.
For more information about the Craft vinyl re-issue, go here.
JazzWax clips: Here's Yardbird Suite followed by the rest of the album...
