Hope is in the Air

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," are familiar to many through an early Clifford Brown recording. Seales's playing is less spikey, less loose, than Hope's, and has a transparency that opens clear views into Hope's unconventional harmonic constructions. Hope's widow and collaborator, Bertha, plays piano on three tracks, with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington. There are guest appearances by the underappreciated alto saxophonist Bobby Porcelli and trumpeter Don Sickler. Roberta Gambini sings, beautifully, Hope's "This Sweet Sorrow." Anyone intrigued by this CD may want to check out Hope's own work. Fantasy's Original Jazz Classics catalog has six of his albums. Elmo Hope Trio with Jimmy Bond and Frank Butler is a good place to start.