TRACK: “What Is This Thing Called Love?”
ALBUM TITLE: Hampton Hawes Trio
LABEL: OJC/Contemporary
PERSONNEL: Hampton Hawes, piano; Red Mitchell, bass; Chuck Thompson, drums
RECORDED: June 1955
REVIEW FROM: Jazz Bass Artists of the 1950s by Dave Hunt
One of most artists’ and listeners’ very favorite standard tunes, Cole Porter’s 32-bar A-A-B-A (8-8-8-8) memorable structure is given an impressive interpretation. Hawes’ rubato, out-of-tempo introductory chorus is characterized by exquisite harmonization and masterful phrasing. The last 4 bars provide a lead-in tempo to a melodic statement with harmonic voicings and rhythmic form that compel the listener to go back to Hawes’ introductory chorus and hear that melodic development all over again … this before even getting to the improvisational choruses.
Despite his inclination to indulge in much more than merely paraphrasing any selected theme, the pianist plays three superb choruses here that retain the pure melodic essence of Porter’s memorable standard. Hawes’ improvisational style—derived directly from the bebop horn language of Charlie Parker and tempered by the piano adaptations of the single-line constructions of pianists Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson—is evident right at the outset of the first chorus. The piano single lines bristle with staccato excitement, infusing Mitchell and Thompson with emotional vigor. All the while, that melodic essence is ever present.
Tantalizing chords dominate the first 2 bars of Hawes’ second piano chorus, foretelling a heightened tension through contrast, but he then surprisingly returns to his previous single-line development. The whole third chorus shows how effectively he can balance tension and release, as his phrase contours appealingly scale the peaks and descend to the depths of inspired, harmonically derived ideas. This model piano interpretation of “What Is This Thing Called Love” ends as Hawes relaxes his emotionally charged improvisation in the last 2 bars and structurally introduces Mitchell.
The simplicity of the bassist’s phrasing in the first 8 bars of his single chorus is melodically suggestive and reconnects the listener with the tune once again. This makes a wonderfully conceived jumping off point for the increased intensity in phrasing that is coming up in the first half of the second 8-bar A section (bars 9-12). The second half (bars 13-16) is 4 bars of seeming release. In a deceptively simple way to establish theme identity for the second time, the whole bridge (B 8-bar section, bars 17-24) acts like the first 8 bars of the chorus. This is significant, because the bridge is the section of many tunes that benefits from some type of special emphasis. The tension (bars 25-28) and release (bars 29-32) of the last A section mirrors that of the second A.
A much anticipated ending melodic statement concludes one of the finest trio tracks of the mid-1950s. As a matter of fact, much of this CD should be considered some of the best piano trio jazz of that whole period.