Hampton Hawes
Hampton Barnett Hawes, Jr. (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an American bebop and hard-bop jazz pianist, recognized as one of the finest and most influential of the 1950s. He was also the author of what is now a classic jazz memoir, Raise Up Off Me, which won the Deems-Taylor Award for music writing in 1975.
Early life
Hampton Hawes was born on November 13, 1928, in Los Angeles, California. His father, Hampton Hawes, Sr., was minister of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. His mother, the former Gertrude Holman, was Westminster's church pianist. Hawes' first experience with the piano was as a toddler sitting on his mother's lap while she practiced. He was reportedly able to pick out fairly complex tunes by the age of three.
Later life and career
Entirely self-taught, Hawes by his teens was playing with the leading jazz musicians on the West Coast, including Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Art Pepper, Shorty Rogers, and Teddy Edwards. His second professional job, at 19, was playing for eight months with the Howard McGhee Quintet at the Hi De Ho Club, in a group that included Charlie Parker.