raise up off me

[fasstrack]

i'd be very surprised if there was not already at least 1 thread about this book. as for me, I could not put it down, and read it in 2 sittings. it is vivid, takes one right into the action, and is brutally honest. i listened to hawes's music while reading, for a total absorbing experience. great swinger, great raconteur he...

[JSngry]

Great book!

In particular, or not in particular, his comments about Toshiko are deeply human.

[fasstrack]

he has great insight into and first-hand knowledge of all the musicians in his orbit, especially charlie parker and wardell grey (gray?), but also chuck thompson, oscar peterson, monk, and sonny clark...

 

Edited May 10, 2016 by fasstrack

[BillF]

One of the great jazz autobiographies, second only to Art Pepper's IMHO.

[T.D.]

7 hours ago, BillF said:

One of the great jazz autobiographies, second only to Art Pepper's IMHO.

I won't rank them, but these are the top two IMO. I prefer the "warts and all" approach to the more sanitized edited / ghostwritten accounts.

Weirdly, when I bought Pepper's Straight Life (10-15 years ago IIRC), it was oop and I had to really scrounge around to find a used copy, though I see there's now an edition in print  with Laurie Pepper credited. Raise Up Off Me, OTOH, seems to have stayed in print (deservedly, of course) all along.

[fasstrack]

12 hours ago, BillF said:

One of the great jazz autobiographies, second only to Art Pepper's IMHO.

Art Pepper's book made me ill. (I admit I read and reread it---prurient interest). He is self-important, paranoid, and has an exaggerated idea of his own abilities, and importance to jazz. Hampton Hawes may be a little crazy, but suffers from no such excesses. He comes off humble by comparison, and takes responsibility for his mistakes and fuck-ups...

[Gheorghe]

I bought it in the late 70´s and still enjoy reading it. Really interesting inside the live of a musician in trouble. It has quite a happy end, Hampton Hawes back in action, enjoying a new family live also. Too sad he died in 1977, he would have deserved much more recognition......

[fasstrack]

The book aside, what I like about him is that his playing evolved. Though he had the life-changing opportunity to work with Charlie Parker as a young man, he didn't stay stuck in the harmony and conventions of the '40s-'50s piano style as some other pianists of that period did. (Of course, Bird is of and for the ages). You can really hear him absorbing newer piano ideas on the recording he made with Charlie Haden (As Long as There's Music). He was about learning and evolution.

[Bluesnik]

I read it too and I remember the description of his time in Japan or Corea (scoring with the prostitutes) as being particularly catching and honest.

[Face of the Bass]

Just finished this book and I very much recommend it. I'd say it's my favorite of all the jazz memoirs I've read. Definitely better than the Art Pepper book, which mostly just depressed the hell out of me. 

[Gheorghe]

also interesting to read: The interview Art Taylor made with Hampton Hawes. Art Taylor´s book "Notes and Tones"

[Mark Stryker]

Worth noting: The author who worked with Hampton Hawes on "Raise Up Off Me" was named Don Asher, and he deserves a lot of credit for helping shape the book and capturing Hawes' voice and spirit on the page. (This is a lot harder than it looks.) Asher himself was a pianist, who for many years was the house pianist at the Hungry I in San Francisco during the nightclub's heyday. He wasn't exactly a jazz pianist, but more of  a hip cocktail pianist (in the most profound sense) and a true professional musician. In later years he became a writer too (novels and more). His memoir "Notes from a Battered Grand" is really a wonderful book. I can't recommend it highly enough. I met Don once. We were on vacation in San Francisco in 1998 and I found out that he had a steady gig at the Fairmont Hotel (I think that's where it was). Heard a few tunes and shared a drink with him at the bar. A lovely man.

https://www.amazon.com/Notes-Battered-Grand-Honky-Tonk-Society/dp/0151672814

 

[AllenLowe]

he also wrote about the young Jaki Byard in his autobiography.

[paul secor]

Notes from a Battered Grand is a fine read. A friend turned me on to it and I've been grateful ever since.

[Morganized]

Read the Hawes book 10-12 years ago. Really liked it as I recall. I remember it as humorous.

One quote that I have not forgotten involved his search for "illegal substances" in Japan I believe. He decided to go to a brothel because he had learned that " where you find one sin, you always find others." Something like that.    Good story teller.

Big fan of Hampton Hawes!! 

[fasstrack]

On 6/22/2016 at 7:27 PM, paul secor said:

Notes from a Battered Grand is a fine read. A friend turned me on to it and I've been grateful ever since.

? What's that?

[paul secor]

1 hour ago, fasstrack said:

? What's that?

See Mark Stryker's post #13 above.

[mikeweil]

Notes from a Battered Grand went to my wish list. Got a copy of Raise up off me yesterday, looking forward to read it during my vacation starting in mid-July - it was on my list for so long.

[sidewinder]

I remember when this came out and it getting very good reviews at the time. To this day I've never read it - a situation I will have to put right.

[BillF]

1 hour ago, sidewinder said:

I remember when this came out and it getting very good reviews at the time. To this day I've never read it - a situation I will have to put right.

Manchester City Libraries did the honours a few years ago as far as this one is concerned. Recommended!