Trio And Quintet (2005)

"Vergeten en jong overleden hardboppianist en -componist In de schaduw van Thelonious Monk en Bud Powell, maar met een volkomen eigen geluid en melodieën die in je hoofd blijven hangen." (Bert Broere, Heaven) "Of the collections of Elmo Hope's '50s recordings, Trio and Quintet is the one to get. It includes his prime Blue Note sessions and features a stellar cast of hard bop musicians including Art Blakey, Frank Foster, Philly Joe Jones, and Harold Land. The majority of the tunes are Hope originals which, in their angular introspection, bear the influence of both Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Things begin with ten mostly hard bop swingers from a trio date in 1953. Prominently featured is Hope's Powell like, single line attack. The Quintet tracks start with an East Coast session featuring Foster and Blakey. The remainder of the session impresses with a series of rhythmically rich Hope compositions which, like the majority of Monk's tunes, stay memorable in spite of their complexity." (Stephen Cook, Allmusic)