Informal Jazz gives pianist and composer Elmo Hope a remarkable sextet and a set of themes sturdy enough to release its individual voices. “Weejah” moves with compact hard-bop purpose, bringing Donald Byrd’s trumpet together with the contrasting tenors of John Coltrane and Hank Mobley. “On It” is another Hope original with a firm rhythmic profile, the ensemble stating the line cleanly before the soloists take it apart.
Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones form the rhythm section, giving Hope both drive and room for his angular piano language. The presence of Coltrane and Mobley makes the session especially interesting: one increasingly urgent and exploratory, the other rounded and rhythmically relaxed. Byrd’s trumpet adds another clean, agile line, creating front-line combinations that can change colour from chorus to chorus. Jones’s crisp accents prevent the dense horn writing from feeling crowded, while Chambers keeps the pulse mobile beneath it. Yet this is not merely a meeting of famous sidemen. Hope’s writing and piano establish the album’s character, while “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” and “Avalon” show how the group handles familiar material. Hope’s presence remains decisive in every arrangement. The informal quality is conversational, never underprepared.
The Analogue Productions Prestige edition presents the original mono programme on one 180-gram LP. It is a focused single-disc choice for collectors exploring Hope’s work as a leader and composer. Michael 45 stores the goods in Germany and sends them from Hilden, so customers in Germany and across the EU need no personal US import and no customs wait.
Artist page: All titles with John Coltrane
Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe
Series: Analogue Productions Prestige – all 50 records, musicians and session paths
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