John Hicks - I'll Give You Something to Remember Me By (Limetree, 1987)

This post is by Dan

John Hicks (p); Curtis Lundy (b); Idris Muhammad (d)

Recorded March 12, 1987

John Hicks was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1941. His recording career was marked by 12 years of playing in other musicians' bands before making his debut recording as a leader in 1975. His first albums (Hell's Bells and Steadfast) appeared on the Strata-East label five years after they were recorded. Pure Pleasure reissued the Strata-East records in 2019.

I'll Give You Something to Remember Me By is a prophetic title. Hicks' long apprenticeship is rare for players of obviously superior talent, but he paid his dues and eventually received deserved recognition. Beginning in the mid-1980s and ending with his death in 2006, Hicks recorded at least a dozen excellent trio albums that ensure his reputation as one of the most skilled practitioners of jazz piano. Later in his career, he released a series of CDs on HighNote that honor the music of fellow pianists including Mary Lou WIlliams, Sonny Clark, Earl Hines, Erroll Garner, and composer Billy Strayhorn. He also led the Keystone Trio that included Idris Muhammad and George Mraz. All of these records are worth hearing. 

Hicks likes to play fast, even on tunes written for slower tempos. This allows him to shape and reinterpret familiar songs, but he always stays "in the pocket." For example, on I'll Give You Something he livens up "Blue in Green" in a way I never imagined possible and adds a dramatic climax at the end. Most artists would not dare to attempt such a radical re-imagining, but it's fundamental to Hicks. "My Foolish Heart" maintains a slow tempo, but Hicks manages to say more in his solo than most players. "Monk's Mood" is taken as a solo. Again, it's bit quicker than most versions, and Hicks works in a clever stride section that echoes Monk's own latent tendency toward stride. "Pas de Trois," written by Paul Arsianian, has become something of a jazz staple. It's a perfect vehicle for Hicks to impose a modal approach in waltz time. 

Listening to Hicks improvise on a tune like "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," I am baffled by how he decides what to play next. The solo sounds like it was carefully mapped out ahead of time because, as I frequently say, none of the notes seem out of place. But obviously, they are improvised in the moment rather than composed. The best improvisors possess this talent, and Hicks is one of the best. 

The trio includes bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Idris Muhammad. Both play excellent solos on most of the tracks and otherwise provide a rock-solid foundation for the pianist's creativity. Lundy and Hicks both play on Bobby Watson's wonderful Love Remains album, reviewed earlier in this blog. Muhammad is from New Orleans and is credited with contributions to literally hundreds of jazz albums. He died in 2014, leaving Lundy as the only surviving member of the trio.

I'll Give You Something was recorded in Holland at the Monster studio and was engineered by Max Bolleman. The CD includes a ninth track, "Tadd's Delight." I have not heard the LP.