Existing comment:
Earl "Fatha" Hines, 1905-1983
Born Duquesne, Pennsylvania
In the 1930s a Chicago disc jockey gave Earl Hines the nickname "Fatha," in part as a tribute to his role as the progenitor of modern jazz piano. Known for playing hornlike, or "trumpet style," lines with one hand and chords with the other, Hines elevated the role of the piano as a solo instrument and influenced generations of jazz pianists. In the mid-1920s he moved from Pittsburgh to Chicago, where his playing partners included trumpeter Louis Armstrong. By 1928 Hines had formed his own big band, which performed regularly at the Grand Terrace Ballroom and toured throughout North America and later Europe and Russia. As the effects of bebop's fast tempos and improvisation transformed jazz throughout the 1940s, Hines's expanding band nurtured new talent that included trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonist Charlie Parker, and vocalists Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan.
Ronny Jaques, c 1942 |