Hampton Hawes

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Hampton Hawes (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an African American jazz pianist.

Hawes was born and raised in Los Angeles. His father was the minister at the Westminster Presbysterian Church in West Los Angeles, California, who disapproved of his son's interest in jazz. His mother and one of his elder sisters (Mabel) were talented pianists. In his teens, the self-taught Hawes was already playing with well known musicians around the area, including Dexter Gordon, Sonny Criss, and Wardell Gray. Hawes was also a member of the Howard McGhee band, where he played with Charlie Parker. He also played with Charles Mingus, as recorded on the album "Mingus Three" (1957, Roulette. Hawes won many awards during the 1950s and influenced a great number of other pianists including Claude Williamson, Andre Previn, Oscar Peterson, Pete Jolly and others. Hawes' own influences came from a number of sources, and though he learned from pianists Bud Powell and Nat (King) Cole among others, his principal source of influence was alto genius Charlie Parker.

After serving in the army in Japan from 1952-1954, Hawes led his own trio, with bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Mel Lewis, before Chuck Thompson moved in. In 1958, he was arrested for heroin possession, and served time in jail until 1963, when John F. Kennedy granted him a presidential pardon.

After his release, Hawes resumed playing and recording. He also experimented with electronic music, (Fender-Rhodes made a special instrument for him) although eventually he returned to making acoustic music. Raise Up Off Me, Hawes' autobiography published in 1974, shed some light on his heroin addiction, the bebop movement, and his friendships with some of the best jazz musicians of his time. A (128pp) Hampton Hawes Biography/Discography was published in Manchester, England in 1987, co-authored by Roger Hunter and Mike Davis. There is a Hawes discography on the web (largely copied from the original 1987 compilation) and can be easily found through Google. Hawes died from a brain haemorrhage in 1977, only 48 years old, and is buried next to his father in a Los Angeles cemetery.