Hampton Hawes, “For Real!” was recorded in 1958 but not released on the Contemporary Records label until 1961. Featuring Hawes (piano) alongside Harold Land (tenor sax), Scott LaFaro (bass) and Frank Butler (drums) the album incudes a mixture of both jazz standards and originals. This new edition features remastered hi-res audio from the original tapes.
Considering the legendary bassist Scott LaFaro released no albums as a leader and was known strictly as a sideman, that this recording exists is nothing less than a miracle, and an event in the annals of jazz. It consists of a brief program featuring five selections with the equally brilliant pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete La Roca, a long rehearsal tape of "My Foolish Heart" with the Bill Evans Trio circa 1966, a 1966 interview about LaFaro with Evans, and a solo piano piece from Friedman done in 1985. So while only half of the disc faithfully features LaFaro's deep and honest bass playing, it is more than worthwhile to finally hear.
Rare reissue of historic recordings by Scott LaFaro. New DSD remastering. Scott LaFaro left us a very small number of recordings due to his untimely death in 1961. He was a genius who developed a revolutionary way of playing the bass. Whether recorded live or in studio, these recordings are all worth listening to. This album consists of three ABC Stars of Jazz TV probrams as well as a very rare rehearsal session at Bob Andrews' Recordville, the record store belonging to Andrews, the famous devotee of the West Coast jazz scene. All are 1958 performances while LaFaro was with the Victor Feldman group. Recommended for fans of Scott LaFaro!
These performances of 'Bill Evans & Scott Lafaro Trio' are previously unreleased from private stock. This collection is from the pinnacle of Evans' almost continual engagements at the Village Vanguard of New York City. 'Live At The Village Vanguard 1961' is only available in physical CD format. EAR Records is not offering digital format for tracks nor a digitized CD.