With its unforgettable hip-alligator cover, Everybody Likes Hampton Hawes was not only one of the late pianist's most popular trio albums of the 1950s, but one of his finest. The third volume of a series Hawes made with bassist Red Mitchell and the sensitive, swinging drummer Chuck Thompson, this collection has two of his most compelling blues. It also contains one of the great recorded jazz versions of Gershwin's "Embraceable You," a fascinating harmonic reworking of "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," and driving performances of "A Night in Tunisia" and "I Remember You," the latter with a classic Mitchell bass solo. Although Hawes developed and changed stylistically over his two remaining decades, this 1956 recording remains a primary example of his musical purity and undated freshness.

with Red Mitchell, Chuck Thompson