New Stories

Hope is in the Air

Origin 82434

Purchase

iTunes - $7.99


This Elmo Hope revival project exudes class...New Stories subtly rounds Hope's material into overt elegance, while remaining true to its spirit...a valuable rediscovery of a unique American composer.
JazzTimes

New York producer, trumpeter and publisher Don Sickler has long made it his business to document the works of underappreciated jazz composers. With "Hope Is In The Air," the Seattle-based trio "New Stories" add their own spin to many of the melodic and complex compositions of the often-missed bebop hero Elmo Hope, bringing them into the 21st Century. Also featuring altoist Bobby Porcelli, Sickler on trumpet and a special appearance by Bertha Hope, "Hope..." was recorded and mixed by Rudy Van Gelder, the original engineer on many of Hope's original recordings. Pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller & drummer John Bishop have performed & recorded under the name New Stories since 1987 and their recordings include releases with Don Lanphere, Ernie Watts, Bud Shank, and the Grammy-nominated "Song for the Geese" with Mark Murphy.


Track Listing:

1. Sims A Plenty 5:06
2. Dee-Dah 6:14
3. Nieta 5:49
4. One Second Please 3:56
5. A Kiss For My Love 6:41
6. Sweet Sorrow 4:52
7. Roll On 5:07
8. Hot Sauce 4:06
9. Medley: Eyes So Beautiful 3:29
10. Stars Over Marakesh 6:36
11. Low Tide 4:46
12. Carving the Rock 4:37
13. Monique 1:13
14. Three Silver Quarters 4:04

Performers:

New Stories:

MARC SEALES - piano
DOUG MILLER - bass
JOHN BISHOP - drums

featuring:
BOBBY PORCELLI - alto saxophone (1,4,7,12)
BERTHA HOPE - piano (11,13,14)
DON SICKLER - trumpet/flugelhorn (13,14)
ROBERTA GAMBARINI - voice (6)
RONNIE MATHEWS - piano (6)
PETER WASHINGTON - bass (6)
KENNY WASHINGTON - drums (6)

Production Info:

Produced by DON SICKLER
Recorded, mixed & mastered by RUDY VAN GELDER
at Van Gelder Recording Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, May, 1998
Assistant engineer: MAUREEN SICKLER
Photographs of Elmo Hope by FRANCIS WOLFF
Cover photography & design by JOHN BISHOP
Photographs of New Stories by LARRY BISHOP


Reviews of Hope is in the Air

All Music Guide (Scott Yanow)
Elmo Hope was a contemporary of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. He only lived to be 43 and never achieved much fame or fortune, but he was a talented bop pianist and composer with a style of his own. New Stories, a trio consisting of pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller, and drummer John Bishop, revives 11 of Hope's better songs on this CD, inc ...

All About Jazz (Dan McClenaghan)
The Seattle-based trio New Stories - with a little help from some friends, and under the producer's baton of trumpeter Don Sickler - has crafted a first rate document to the undersung bop composer/pianist Elmo Hope on Hope is in the Air. Elmo Hope, back in bop's early days, hung with piano legends Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. According to Ne ...

Earshot (Peter Monaghan)
After many years of relative obscurity, Elmo Hope is getting at least some of this due. A contemporary of Thelonious Monk, Hope long was overshadowed by that askew genius. With some overcorrection, he of late has been compared in greatness with Monk. That might be over-reaching, but the point, really, is that comparisons aren't as useful as plain a ...

Grapevine Culture (C. Michael Bailey)
The three archangels of bebop piano were close friends and inspirations to one another. They were Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Elmo Hope. Who is Elmo Hope? He was said to be Thelonious Monk's favorite jazz composer. Born St. Elmo Sylvester Hope in New York City, June 27, 1923, Hope emerged in the 1950s as a promising bop pianist and composer. Sa ...

Berman Music Review (Butch Berman)
Pianist Elmo Hope left behind a wealth of little-known compositions that trumpeter-producer Don Sickler has turned to good purpose. With the help of Hope's widow, Sickler compiled a collection of Hope's music, wrote lead sheets and turned it over to New Stories, the excellent Seattle-based trio of pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller and drumme ...

amazon.com (Bill Wood)
Producer and trumpet player Don Sickler has devoted himself for years to developing leadsheets from the recorded compositions of Elmo Hope, and now the effort has paid off big time in this CD by the Seattle piano trio, New Stories (Marc Seales - piano, Doug Miller - bass, John Bishop - drums). Elmo Hope was the third member of a trio of close f ...

Jazz Times (Thomas Conrad)
This Elmo Hope revival project exudes class. It includes cameos by seven guest musicians (most notably producer/trumpeter Don Sickler and alto saxophonist Bobby Porcelli), but is defined by New Stories: pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller and drummer John Bishop, who have constituted the best piano trio in Seattle, Wash., for 17 years. Elmo ...

Victoria Times Colonist (Joseph Blake)
Every summer at the Pt. Townsend Jazz Festival, I'm blown away by the brilliance of Seattle's New Stories. The piano trio featuring Marc Seales and his rhythm team of bassist Doug Miller and drummer John Bishop are joined by New York heavyweights such as Don Dickler and Bobby Porcelli on a recently released tribute to the music of Elmo Hope call ...

Berman Music Review (Tom Ineck)
Another drug casualty of the post-bop era, pianist Elmo Hope died in 1967 at age 43, seemingly putting an end to his potential influence on other musicians. But he left behind a wealth of little-known compositions that trumpeter-producer Don Sickler has now turned to good purpose on this collaborative project. With the help of Hope's widow, pia ...

Rifftides (Doug Ramsey)
New Stories: Hope Is In The Air: The Music of Elmo Hope. Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller and Origin's drummer proprietor, John Bishop, are the New Stories trio. The less famous peer of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, Hope was a splendid pianist who left an impressive body of compositions. Three of them, "Dee-Dah," "Bellarosa" and "Carving the Rock ...

Cadence (Larry Nai)
The New Stories trio - pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller, and drummer John Bishop - flies both alone and special-guest-augmented on this bracingly fine tribute to pianist Elmo Hope. One of the most tragically fascinating figures of the Bop family, Hope's highly percussive, nervous keyboard style is less imitated than intimated here by Seales ...

Audiophile Audition (Jeff Krow)
New Stories, the piano trio made up of Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller, and drummer John Bishop, have undertaken the daunting task of reviving eleven tracks from the brilliant bop composer and pianist, Elmo Hope. Hope was a much lesser known contemporary of of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. He only lived to be 43, but left a legacy of bop composi ...



ORIGIN RECORDS

OA2 RECORDS

ORIGIN CLASSICAL

CONTACT US

  • Origin Records
    8649 Island Drive South
    Seattle, WA 98118
    ph: (206) 781-2589
    fx: (206) 374-2618
  • Email / Order Info / Etc
THE ORIGIN MUSIC GROUP • FOUNDED 1997 / SEATTLE, WA • THE MUSIC YOU NEED