Claude Hopkins
A talented stride pianist, Claude Hopkins never became as famous as he deserved. He was a bandleader early on, and toured Europe in the mid-'20s as the musical director for Josephine Baker. Hopkins returned to the U.S. in 1926, led his own groups, and in 1930 took over Charlie Skeete's band. Between 1932-1935, he recorded steadily with his big band (all of the music has been reissued on three Classics CDs), which featured Jimmy Mundy arrangements and such fine soloists as trumpeter/vocalist Ovie Alston, trombonist Fernando Arbello, a young Edmond Hall on clarinet, and baritone and tenorman Bobby Sands, along with the popular high-note vocals of Orlando Roberson. The orchestra's recordings are a bit erratic, with more than their share of mistakes from the ensembles and a difficulty in integrating Hopkins' powerhouse piano with the full group, but they are generally quite enjoyable. Mundy's eccentric "Mush Mouth" is a classic, and Hopkins introduced his best-known original, "I Would Do Anything for You." Although they played regularly at Roseland (1931-1935) and the Cotton Club (1935-1936), and there were further sessions in 1937 and 1940, the Claude Hopkins big band never really caught on and ended up breaking up at the height of the swing era. Hopkins did lead a later, unrecorded big band (1944-1947), but mostly worked with small groups for the remainder of his career. He played with Red Allen's group during the second half of the 1950s, led his own band during 1960-1966, and in 1968 was in the Jazz Giants with Wild Bill Davison. Claude Hopkins led an obscure record for 20th Century Fox (1958) and three Swingville albums (1960-1963), but his best later work were solo stride dates for Chiaroscuro and Sackville (both in 1972), and a trio session for Black & Blue in 1974; it is surprising that his piano skills were not more extensively documented.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
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Swingville, Vol.20: Let's Jam
Claude Hopkins, Buddy Tate, Joe Thomas
Jazz - Erschienen bei Crazy Warthog Media am 01.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Swing Time (Instrumental Version)
Jazz - Erschienen bei Crazy Warthog Media am 01.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Hits - Claude Hopkins
Jazz - Erschienen bei Crazy Warthog Media am 01.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Apologize
Jazz - Erschienen bei Crazy Warthog Media am 01.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Life in Advertising
Jazz - Erschienen bei Crazy Warthog Media am 01.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monkey Business
Jazz - Erschienen bei Crazy Warthog Media am 01.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
It Don't Mean a Thing / Is It So (All Tracks Remastered)
Jazz - Erschienen bei Hit Singles Records am 08.11.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
1937-1940 (HD Remastered)
Jazzgesang - Erschienen bei Reborn recordings am 13.06.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Yes, Indeed / Empty Bed Blues (All Tracks Remastered)
Jazz - Erschienen bei Hit Singles Records am 27.05.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Safari Stomp
Jazz - Erschienen bei Crazy Warthog Media am 01.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Back Beats
Jazz - Erschienen bei Crazy Warthog Media am 01.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Claude Hopkins - Platinum Edition (The Greatest Hits Ever!)
Klassischer Jazz & New-Orleans-Jazz - Erschienen bei Platinum Masterpieces am 10.02.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo