Don’t know a whole bunch about this album other than that it was recorded for Black Lion records in 1968 while the trio was in Paris on a world tour and that it has never been re-released on CD (although there is a questionable MP3 version available on Amazon, but I am not sure of it’s quality or track accuracy…). The mostly original music is great and shows Hawes touching on both his bebop roots and looking forward a bit (showing the influence of some of the jazz pianists of the era).
This album is currently out-of-print.
Recorded 1968 : Black Lion Records : Catalog # BL 122
Players:
Hampton Hawes – Piano
Jimmy Woode – Bass
Art Taylor – Drums
Hi. Thank you for your fine Blog and interesting comments about piano master Hampton Hawes. I thought I’d drop by to comment about this Black Lion session: it has been out in CD twice (lately with an upgraded digital mapping) titled Hampton Hawes At The Piano, for Black LIon itself. I had both versions since I love many records from Hawes ( and bass great Jimmy Woode too) and this is still one of my favourite. Best drum kit sound ever (Art Taylor playing deserved such an acoustic hommage).
Thanks for the comment. The only “Hampton Hawes At The Piano” album I could find was the 1976 release on Contemporary Records, which is a different record. My personal research still yields no results for “Spanish Steps” on CD even under another name, except for the release noted above that combines “Spanish Steps” with “Blues For Bud” (both recorded at the same session for Black Lion).