Claude Hopkins - Safari Stomp (2022)

Tracklist

01. I Would Do Anything For You
02. Crying Out My Heart For You
03. Struttin' With Some Barbeque
04. Nice Blues
05. Them There Eyes
06. Poor Butterfly
07. Safari Stomp
08. I'm Coming Virginia
09. Who's Sorry Now?
10. Cute
11. Struttin' With Some Barbeque
12. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
13. It's Wonderful
14. Safari Stomp (Take 1)
15. Cute (Take 2)
16. Struttin' With Some Barbeque (Take 2)

Followed only by Sophisticated Swing, a live album captured at Virginia's Manassas Jazz Festival in December 1974, Safari Stomp was hatched in Valaurisis, France six months earlier on July 17 and appears to constitute pianist and bandleader Claude Hopkins' very last studio recording. Originally released as Black & Blue by the Black & Blue record label, the album's 2003 reissue adds previously omitted titles "Cute," "It's Wonderful," "Who's Sorry Now," and "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" along with several juicy alternate takes. Hopkins, whose recording career began in 1922, is heard in relaxed communion with Louis Armstrong's longtime bassist Arvell Shaw and master percussionist Jo Jones, a cardinal member of the Count Basie Orchestra from 1935-1948. This intimate and pleasantly casual outing compares nicely with latter-day trio recordings by Hopkins' colleagues Duke Ellington and Earl Fatha Hines. Hopkins' music is recommended for tooling around in your ride or preparing a big meal for trusted friends and family.

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