(Piano, bandleader, 1903–83)

Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines was the key transitional figure between the early ragtime and stride styles and the essentials of modern piano. He stripped away much of the density of 1920s piano, replacing it with more linear octaves and edgy single-note lines with the right hand – his ‘trumpet style’ – while softening the rhythmic accompaniment with the left.

Hines established his reputation in Chicago in the late 1920s, recording solos and classics such as ‘Weather Bird’ and ‘West End Blues’ with Louis Armstrong. He led the house band at Chicago’s Grand Terrace Café from 1928–40. Hines turned it into a first-class orchestra, largely on the basis of arrangements by Jimmy Mundy (‘Cavernism’, ‘Mad House’), whom he discovered and mentored. The band’s peak years came on its Victor recordings (1939–42). Hines gave up the band in 1947, toured with Louis Armstrong until 1951 and then fell in to obscurity. In 1964 a New York solo concert returned him to prominence; for the next 19 years he toured and recorded prolifically.

Styles & Forms | Thirties | Jazz & Blues
Personalities | Johnny Hodges | Thirties | Jazz & Blues