Sounds from Rikers Island

• Artist: Elmo Hope
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 19, 1963
• Type: Live
• Genre: Jazz

Review

Kudos to Spain's Fresh Sound label for digging this one out of its undeserved obscurity. This 1963 session assembled by composer Sid Frey, pianist and composer Elmo Hope, and vibist Walt Dickerson (who doesn't appear on the record) is a blowing date centered around the notion of drug addiction and hopelessness for the addict/slave musician who ends up in places like Rikers Island. As a cultural and social critique, it fails other than in its liner notes. As a musical document, it is an overwhelming success. Hope surrounds himself with musicians whose reputations are now legendary: Philly Joe Jones, John Gilmore, Ronnie Boykins, Lawrence Jackson, and Freddie Douglas. Hope and Frey composed six of the set's nine selections, ranging from the breezy hard bop of "Ode for Joe," which allowed Jones the ability to drive the band from outside the arrangement, to the lushly romantic "Monique" and the waltz-as-turnstile blues of "Kevin." "Trippin'" is a blues that slips through harmonic changes quickly and seamlessly with startling stop-and-start cadences. The high points of the session are "A Night in Tunisia," a stretch-out for everyone, and the amazing rendition of "Groovin' High" that closes the album, featuring Marcelle Daniels on scatted vocals. Veteran Earl Coleman also appears as a singer on the Ellington tune "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream," but even in these two tracks, the level of musical empathy and improvisational reciprocity is inspiring. This is an obscure date but it shouldn't be, as it features some of Hope and Gilmore's finest playing, and shows Jones in rare, lighthearted form. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
One for Joe		Elmo Hope	(4:34)
Ecstasy		Elmo Hope	(3:15)
Three Silver Quarters		Elmo Hope	(4:45)
A Night in Tunisia	Frank Paparelli, Dizzy Gillespie	Elmo Hope	(5:57)
Trippin'		Elmo Hope	(3:19)
It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream	Don George, Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges	Earl Coleman, Elmo Hope	(4:07)
Kevin		Elmo Hope	(4:15)
Monique		Elmo Hope	(3:02)
Groovin' High	Dizzy Gillespie	Elmo Hope	(2:59)

Credits

Lawrence Jackson (Group Member), Fred Douglas (Group Member), Elmo Hope (Piano), Philly Joe Jones (Group Member), John Gilmore (Group Member), Lawrence Jackson (Trumpet), Jordi Pujol (Producer), Ronnie Boykins (Group Member), Walt Dickerson (Producer), Fred Douglas (Sax (Alto)), Sidney Frey (Producer), Philly Joe Jones (Drums), Nat Hentoff (Liner Notes), Elmo Hope (Arranger), Ronnie Boykins (Bass), Fred Douglas (Sax (Soprano)), Elmo Hope (Group Member), John Gilmore (Sax (Tenor)), Earl Coleman (Vocals)