Four Classic Albums: Jazz Piano (2-CD)

by Various Artists

AVID Jazz is proud to introduce an exciting new addition to our Four Classic Album series, Four Classic Jazz Instrumentalists. The focus of each set will be on one particular instrument. We begin with Four Classic Jazz Pianists, a re-mastered 2CD set complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. 'Jutta Hipp: With Zoot Sims'; 'Walter Davis Jr: Davis Cup'; 'McCoy Tyner: Inception' and 'Herbie Hancock: Takin' Off'. For our first release in this new series we have chosen a diverse range of jazz pianists who released their debut albums from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. Jutta Hipp was originally from Germany where she began her jazz career playing with many prominent German jazz musicians. She moved to the USA in 1955 at the invitation of jazz critic Leonard Feather and cut her album with Zoot Sims in 1956. Possibly as a result of her upbringing in Nazi Germany Jutta Hipp had what appeared to be a tough and traumatic life which resulted in a lifelong problem with shyness and stage fright which in turn led to a severe problem with alcohol. She retired from the jazz scene and was said to have worked in a clothing company in the USA for 35 years! However she left behind a couple of live albums and our featured album with Zoot Sims, Jerry Lloyd, Ahmed Abdul-Malik and Ed Thigpen. And it's a beauty! Walter Davis Jr. was a fine pianist who played with amongst others Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Donald Byrd before becoming pianist, arranger and composer with Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers. His classic 1959 hard bop, driving quartet debut album 'Davis Cup' features a fantastic line up of Jackie McLean, Donald Byrd, Sam Jones and Art Taylor. It was so good it remains a mystery why he did not make another album until the seventies Walter Davis Jr also retired from the music business in the 1960's and strangely like Jutta Hipp found himself in the clothing business, albeit as a tailor, painter and designer