I need more John Hicks (recommendations)...

[BFrank]

Saw him sit in with the Charles Tolliver Big Band on Thursday night. Very cool, since he wasn't scheduled to play with them.

[Alfred]

I have some recordings of Hicks as a sideman. The only CD I have with him as a leader is Inc.1 / DIW - a trio date with Walter Booker and Idris Muhammad.

Here are some of his sidemen appearences which are not mentioned before:

• The bassist (Richard Davis) - great duo recording
  
• Against all odds (Curtis Lundy)
  
• Taru (Lee Morgan)
  
• 52nd Street themes (Joe Lovano)
  
• On this day (Joe Lovano)
  

[BFrank]

I would definitely recommend the Pharoah Sanders stuff mentioned earlier.

[catesta]

Try to find "Power Trio" from 1990. I believe it's OOP, but I see it in used stores quite often. With Elvin Jones and Cecil McBee, it's a WINNER.

Yep.

I picked up a copy of this one a few months back.

[clifford_thornton]

John Hicks made his first appearance on the Sonny Simmons LP "Staying on the Watch" (ESP, 1966).

We'll just sorta ignore the Art Blakey date from 1964, and anything before that.

Huh. Simmons told me it was Hicks' first recording, but I suppose he could be wrong...

[kinuta]

I recommend these-

Naima's Love Song - DIW

Cry Me A River - Venus

Maybeck Hall - Concord

Music In The Key Of Clark - High Note

Nightwind- An Erroll Garner Songbook - HighNote

Something To Live For - HighNote

[Phil Meloy]

"The Missouri Connection" - Jay McShann/John Hicks

This is a set of piano duets.

[Rooster_Ties]

[Peter Friedman]

Here Are some unmentioned John Hicks Trio sessions that I like.

Cry Me A River - Venus

Gentle Rain - Sound Hills

Lover Man - Red Baron

I'll Give You Something To Remember Me By - Limetree

On The Wings Of An Eagle - Chesky

[Hot Ptah]

I second the recommendation for "Inc. 1" on DIW. I have a lot of Hicks and this is my very favorite of them all.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

do check out those Keystone Trios,particularly the Rollins tribute Newklear Music...beautiful.

Yep, that's a fact!

[Alexander Hawkins]

I think that rhythm section with Fred Hopkins and Ed Blackwell (e.g. with David Murray) is fantastic. [Although those two are going to make almost anyone sound phenomenal, right?!?]

[Guest donald petersen]

oh yeah he's on the pretty good morning song w. blackwell but i think it's reggie workman on the bass and again i want to talk about you is decent but that's with petersen and drummond. tallking david murray albums here...

[Alexander Hawkins]

True enough - thinking of this though!

[soulpope]

some fine playing by Hicks, notably on the driving "You Gotta Have Freedom" ....

[sidewinder]

On 25 March 2003 at 9:06 PM, LarryCurleyMoe said:

John Hicks is the pianist on Mobley's "Hi Voltage" session. I've only listened to a couple of times - a while ago (I know- I should be ashamed - will work to fix this when I get TIME). I think there are a couple of tasty solos and some good session work.

A very fine early appearance indeed !

[mr jazz]

I like Fatha's Day-an Earl Hines songbook. I had him sign it for me when I saw him in 2004. He was very nice person. RIP

[six string]

Count me in as a fan of Hicks as well.  He has a trio album on an Evidence cd wih Bobby Hutcherson and Walter Booker that I really like and another not mentioned is on the Theresa label Some Other Time also w/Walter Booker but Idris Muhammad in place of Hutcherson.

[Rabshakeh]

I'm only just discovering how much I love John Hicks. 

I recently listened to Charles Tolliver's Live at Loosdrecht and Hank Mobley's Hi Voltage back to back and made the connection between the pianist who, for me, made both records.

His soloing on the former is unbelievable, but it's his accompanying work that really really stands out - he just seems to open up the playing field for the soloists and let them do whatever they could have wanted.

It's funny, because I had never heard of him, despite having listened to him for decade.

He has a fascinating discography. He's on so many albums that I have known and loved for years like Journey to the One and Staying on the Watch, but I'd never twigged that they all had the same player. 

It seems crazy to me that he isn't better known and more talked about.

[Pim]

Yeah Hicks really is like a quiet genius in the background. I’ve had the same thing with Billy Hart and Buster Williams. They are on so many of my favorite records

[soulpope]

44 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

I recently listened to Charles Tolliver's Live at Loosdrecht and Hank Mobley's Hi Voltage back to back ....

Both great platters ....

[Rabshakeh]

2 hours ago, Pim said:

Yeah Hicks really is like a quiet genius in the background. I’ve had the same thing with Billy Hart and Buster Williams. They are on so many of my favorite records

Those are great comparisons.

Again. I hadn't clocked it. Quiet geniuses working in the background. 

[HutchFan]

I don't think anyone's mentioned this one:

Top shelf stuff.

 

[soulpope]

"I`ll Give You Something To Remember By..." on Limetree from 1988 ain`t too shabby either ....

[ejp626]

On 2/21/2005 at 0:53 PM, Alfred said:

I have some recordings of Hicks as a sideman. The only CD I have with him as a leader is Inc.1 / DIW - a trio date with Walter Booker and Idris Muhammad.

 

Managed to snag a reasonable copy off of Amazon (the copies on Discogs were considerably more expensive), but it will be a while before it turns up.  Maybe I'll listen to Hi Voltage in the meantime...