Fred Hopkins
Encyclopedia
Fred Hopkins was a Chicago
double bassist who played a major role in the development of the avant-garde jazz movement
. He was a member of the avant garde jazz trio Air
(with Henry Threadgill
and Steve McCall
) and David Murray
's Low Class Conspiracy; he frequently worked with the cellist
Diedre Murray
. Hopkins played with a wide variety of musicians including Muhal Richard Abrams
, Don Pullen
, Hamiet Bluiett
, Andrew Cyrille
, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre
, Sunny Murray
, Kahil El'Zabar
, Malachi Thompson
, McCoy Tyner
, Elvin Jones
, David Murray
, Anthony Braxton
and Marion Brown
.
With Hamiet Bluiett
With Peter Brötzmann
With Craig Harris
With Oliver Lake
With Michael Marcus
With Jemeel Moondoc
With David Murray
With Bern Nix
With Don Pullen
With Malachi Thompson
With Henry Threadgill
With Tom Varner
With the World Saxophone Quartet
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
double bassist who played a major role in the development of the avant-garde jazz movement
Avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...
. He was a member of the avant garde jazz trio Air
Air (jazz group)
Air was a free jazz trio founded in 1971 by saxophone player Henry Threadgill, double bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall. They combined radical free improvisation with a strong sense of tune and equal emphasis on each instrument in the group....
(with Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. Threadgill came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating a range of non-jazz genres....
and Steve McCall
Steve McCall (drummer)
Steve McCall was an American jazz drummer.McCall was born in Chicago and began his career there in the 1950s. One of his early gigs was playing behind blues singer Lucky Carmichael. McCall befriended Muhal Richard Abrams in 1961, and went on to be one of the founders of the AACM in 1965...
) and David Murray
David Murray (jazz musician)
David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
's Low Class Conspiracy; he frequently worked with the cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Diedre Murray
Diedre Murray
Diedre Murray is an American cellist and composer specializing in jazz, improvised music, opera, and contemporary classical music. She is also active as a producer, and curator...
. Hopkins played with a wide variety of musicians including Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams is an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the Free jazz medium. Abrams compresses both contemporary and traditional ideas into lean, elegant pieces.- Biography :Abrams attended DuSable High School in Chicago...
, Don Pullen
Don Pullen
Don Pullen was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed masterworks ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz...
, Hamiet Bluiett
Hamiet Bluiett
Hamiet Bluiett is an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument is the baritone saxophone, and he is considered one of the finest living players of this instrument...
, Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Charles Cyrille is an avant-garde jazz drummer.Cyrille was born in Brooklyn, New York into a family with a mother from Haiti. He began studying science at St...
, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre
Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre
Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre is an American free jazz tenor saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist.McIntyre was born in Clarksville, Arkansas but his family moved to Chicago when he was a child. He began playing drums at seven, then switched to saxophone...
, Sunny Murray
Sunny Murray
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray is one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.-Biography:...
, Kahil El'Zabar
Kahil El'Zabar
Kahil EL'Zabar is a jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer. He regularly records for Delmark Records. He joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in the early 1970s, and became its chairman in 1975...
, Malachi Thompson
Malachi Thompson
Malachi Richard Thompson , was an American avant-garde jazz trumpet player.- Biography :...
, McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
, Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
, David Murray
David Murray (jazz musician)
David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
, Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
and Marion Brown
Marion Brown
Marion Brown was a jazz alto saxophonist and ethnomusicologist. He is most well known as a member of the 1960s avant-garde jazz scene in New York City, playing alongside musicians such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and John Tchicai...
.
With Air
- 1975: Air SongAir SongAir Song is the debut album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins performing four of Threadgill's compositions. The album was originally released on the Japanese Why Not label in 1975 and later released in the U.S...
- 1976: Live AirLive AirLive Air is a live album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins recorded at Studio Rivbea, in New York and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, first released by Black Saint Records in 1980....
- 1976: Air RaidAir Raid (album)Air Raid is the second album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins performing four of Threadgill's compositions. The album was originally released on the Japanese Why Not label in 1976 and later released in the U.S...
- 1977: Air TimeAir TimeAir Time is an album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins performing three of Threadgill's compositions and one each by Hopkins and McCall.-Reception:...
- 1978: Open Air SuitOpen Air SuitOpen Air Suit is an album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins recorded in New York in 1978 featuring four of Threadgill's compositions.-Reception:...
- 1978: Montreux SuisseMontreux SuisseMontreux Suisse is a live album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival, in Switzerland in 1978.-Reception:...
- 1979: Air LoreAir LoreAir Lore is an album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins performing compositions by Jelly Roll Morton and Scott Joplin.-Reception:...
- 1980: Air MailAir Mail (album)Air Mail is an album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins recorded for the Italian Black Saint label...
- 1982: 80° Below '8280° Below '8280° Below '82 is an album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins recorded in 1982 for the Antilles label.-Reception:...
- 1983: Live at Montreal International Jazz FestivalLive at Montreal International Jazz FestivalLive at Montreal International Jazz Festival is a live album recorded for the Italian Black Saint label by the improvisational collective New Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Fred Hopkins and Pheeroan akLaff performing at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 1983...
- as New Air - 1986: Air Show No. 1Air Show No. 1Air Show No. 1 is an album recorded for the Italian Black Saint label by the improvisational collective New Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Fred Hopkins and Pheeroan akLaff with Cassandra Wilson providing vocals on three selections.-Reception:...
- as New Air with Cassandra WilsonCassandra WilsonCassandra Wilson is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating country, blues and folk music into her...
As sideman
With Muhal Richard AbramsMuhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams is an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the Free jazz medium. Abrams compresses both contemporary and traditional ideas into lean, elegant pieces.- Biography :Abrams attended DuSable High School in Chicago...
- Colors in Thirty-ThirdColors in Thirty-ThirdColors in Thirty-Third is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1987 and featuring performances of seven of Abrams' compositions by Abrams, John Blake, John Purcell, Dave Holland, Fred Hopkins and Andrew Cyrille....
(Soul Note, 1987) - The Hearinga SuiteThe Hearinga SuiteThe Hearinga Suite is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1989 and features performances of seven of Abrams compositions by an eighteen member orchestra. Abrams dedicated the music on the album to Steve McCall and Raphael Donald Garrett...
(Soul Note, 1989)
With Hamiet Bluiett
Hamiet Bluiett
Hamiet Bluiett is an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument is the baritone saxophone, and he is considered one of the finest living players of this instrument...
- ResolutionResolution (Hamiet Bluiett album)Resolution is an album by American jazz saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett recorded in 1977 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 3 stars.-Track listing:# "Happy Spirit" - 14:35# "Flux/A Bad M.F." - 6:32...
(Black Saint, 1977)
With Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann is a German artist and free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.Brötzmann is among the most important European free jazz musicians. His rough, lyrical timbre is easily recognized on his many recordings.-Early life:...
- Songlines (FMP, 1991)
With Craig Harris
Craig S. Harris (trombonist)
Craig S. Harris is a Jazz trombonist and composer who has been a major figure in the jazz avant-garde movement since his stint with Sun Ra in 1976. Subsequently, Harris has worked with such notable jazz artists as Abdullah Ibrahim, David Murray, Lester Bowie, Cecil Taylor, Sam Rivers, Muhal...
- Black BoneBlack BoneBlack Bone is an album by American jazz trombonist and composer Craig Harris recorded in 1983 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:...
(Soul Note, 1983)
With Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer and poet. He is known mainly on alto saxophone but also performs on soprano saxophone and flute....
- Holding TogetherHolding TogetherHolding Together is an album by American jazz saxophonist Oliver Lake recorded in 1975 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 4 stars.-Track listing:# "Trailway Shake/Sad Lo-Uis" - 10:04# "Hasan" - 4:12...
(Black Saint, 1976) - Expandable LanguageExpandable LanguageExpandable Language is an album by American jazz saxophonist Oliver Lake recorded in 1984 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars stating "This free bop session is one of altoist Oliver Lake's more rewarding sessions".-Track...
(Black Saint, 1984)
With Michael Marcus
Michael Marcus (musician)
Michael Marcus is a American jazz clarinetist and multi woodwind player & Composer....
- Here At! (Soul Note, 1993)
With Jemeel Moondoc
Jemeel Moondoc
Jemeel Moondoc is a jazz saxophonist who plays alto saxophone. He is a proponent of a highly improvisational style....
- Judy's Bounce (Soul Note, 1981)
With David Murray
David Murray (jazz musician)
David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
- Flowers for Albert: The Complete ConcertFlowers for Albert: The Complete ConcertFlowers for Albert is the second album by David Murray. It was originally released on the India Navigation label in 1976 and re-released in 1996 with three additional tracks...
(India Navigation, 1976) - Live at the Lower Manhattan Ocean ClubLive at the Lower Manhattan Ocean ClubLive at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club is a live album by David Murray. It was originally released as two volumes on the India Navigation label in 1978 and re-released in 1989 on a single CD...
(India Navigation, 1978) - Sweet LovelySweet Lovely-Track listing:# "Coney Island" - 9:27# "Corazón" - 8:29# "The Hill" - 12:29# "Hope Scope" - 8:00*Recorded at Barigozzi Studios, Milano, December 4 & 5, 1979-Personnel:*David Murray: tenor saxophone*Fred Hopkins: bass*Steve McCall: drums...
(Black Saint, 1979) - Live at Sweet Basil Volume 1Live at Sweet Basil Volume 1Live at Sweet Basil Volume 1 is the seventh album by David Murray to be released on the Italian Black Saint label and the first to feature his Big Band...
(Black Saint, 1985) - Live at Sweet Basil Volume 2Live at Sweet Basil Volume 2Live at Sweet Basil Volume 2 is the ninth album by David Murray to be released on the Italian Black Saint label and the second to feature his Big Band...
(Black Saint, 1985) - In Our StyleIn Our StyleIn Our Style is an album by David Murray and Jack DeJohnette released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1986 and features five duo performances by Murray and DeJohnette with Fred Hopkins joining on two additional numbers.-Reception:...
(DIW, 1986) - Recording N.Y.C. 1986Recording N.Y.C. 1986Recording N.Y.C. 1986 is an album by David Murray released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1986 and features six quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, James Blood Ulmer and Sunny Murray.-Reception:...
(DIW, 1986) - BalladsBallads (David Murray album)Ballads is an album by David Murray released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1988 and features six quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, Dave Burrell and Ralph Peterson Jr..-Reception:...
(DIW, 1988) - Deep RiverDeep River (David Murray album)Deep River is an album by David Murray released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1988 and features seven quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, Dave Burrell and Ralph Peterson Jr..-Reception:...
(DIW, 1988) - SpiritualsSpirituals (David Murray album)Spirituals is an album by David Murray released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1988 and features seven quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, Dave Burrell and Ralph Peterson Jr..-Reception:...
(DIW, 1988) - LoversLovers (David Murray album)Lovers is an album by David Murray released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1988 and features six quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, Dave Burrell and Ralph Peterson Jr..-Track listing:...
(DIW, 1988) - TenorsTenors (album)Tenors is an album by David Murray released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1988 and features six quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, Dave Burrell and Ralph Peterson Jr..-Reception:...
(DIW, 1988) - Special QuartetSpecial QuartetSpecial Quartet is an album by David Murray released on the DIW/Columbia label. It was released in 1990 and features six quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones.-Reception:...
(DIW/Columbia, 1990) - David Murray Big BandDavid Murray Big BandDavid Murray Big Band conducted by Lawrence "Butch" Morris is an album by David Murray released on the DIW/Columbia label. It is the third album to feature his Big Band and was released in 1991 featuring performances by Murray, Hugh Ragin, Graham Haynes, Rasul Siddik, James Zollar, Craig Harris,...
(DIW/Columbia, 1991) - David Murray/James Newton QuintetDavid Murray/James Newton QuintetDavid Murray/James Newton Quintet is an album by David Murray and James Newton released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1996 and features seven quintet performances by Murray and Newton with John Hicks, Fred Hopkins, Billy Hart and Andrew Cyrille.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded...
(DIW, 1991) - Death of a SidemanDeath of a SidemanDeath of a Sideman is an album by David Murray which was released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1992 and features performances by Murray, Bobby Bradford, Dave Burrell, Fred Hopkins and Ed Blackwell.-Reception:...
(DIW, 1992) - South of the BorderSouth of the Border (David Murray album)South of the Border is an album by the David Murray Big Band released on the Japanese DIW label. Recorded in 1992 and released in 1993 the album features performances by Murray, Rasul Siddik, James Zoller, Hugh Ragin, Craig Harris, Frank Lacy, Al Patterson, Vincent Chancey, Kalil Henry, John...
(DIW, 1993) - For Aunt LouiseFor Aunt LouiseFor Aunt Louise is an album by David Murray which was released on the Japanese DIW label. Recorded in 1993 and released in 1995 the album features performances by Murray, John Hicks, Fred Hopkins, and Idris Mohammad.-Reception:...
(DIW, 1993) - MXMX (album)MX is the second album by David Murray to be released on Bob Thiele's Red Baron label. It was released in 1993 and features performances by Murray, Ravi Coltrane, Bobby Bradford, John Hicks, Fred Hopkins and Victor Lewis...
(Red Baron, 1993) - Dark Star: The Music of the Grateful DeadDark Star: The Music of the Grateful DeadDark Star: The Music of the Grateful Dead is an album by the David Murray Octet released on the Astor Place label. It was released in 1996 and contains Murray's versions of compositions by the Grateful Dead...
(Astor, 1996)
With Bern Nix
Bern Nix
Bern Nix is a jazz guitarist. He has recorded and performed with Ornette Coleman, notably playing alongside fellow guitarist Charlie Ellerbee in Coleman's Prime Time group on their key recordings from Dancing in Your Head in the mid-1970 to In All Languages in 1987.He has released CDs including ...
- Alarms and Excursions (New World, 1993)
With Don Pullen
Don Pullen
Don Pullen was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed masterworks ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz...
- Warriors (Black Saint, 1979)
- The Sixth SenseThe Sixth Sense (Don Pullen album)The Sixth Sense is an album by American jazz pianist Don Pullen recorded in 1985 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Stephen Cook awarded the album 4 stars stating "Reflecting Pullen's own quality piano work, all the soloists make impressive contributions throughout...
(Black Saint, 1985)
With Malachi Thompson
Malachi Thompson
Malachi Richard Thompson , was an American avant-garde jazz trumpet player.- Biography :...
- Rising Daystar (Delmark, 1997–99)
With Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. Threadgill came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating a range of non-jazz genres....
- X-75 Volume 1X-75 Volume 1X-75 Volume 1 is the debut album by Henry Threadgill released on the Arista Novus label in 1979. The album and features four of Threadgill's compositions performed by Threadgill with Douglas Ewart, Joseph Jarman, Wallace McMillan, Leonard Jones, Brian Smith, Rufus Reid, Fred Hopkins and vocals by...
(Arista/Novus, 1979) - When Was That?When Was That?When Was That? is an album by Henry Threadgill released on the About Time label in 1982. The album and features five of Threadgill's compositions performed by Threadgill with Craig Harris, Olu Dara, Fred Hopkins, Brian Smith, Pheeroan akLaff and John Betsch.The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek states...
(About Time, 1981) - Just the Facts and Pass the BucketJust the Facts and Pass the BucketJust the Facts and Pass the Bucket is an album by Henry Threadgill released on the About Time label in 1983. The album and features six of Threadgill's compositions performed by Threadgill with Craig Harris, Olu Dara, Fred Hopkins, Diedre Murray, Pheeroan akLaff and John Betsch.The Allmusic review...
(About Time, 1983) - Subject to ChangeSubject to Change (Henry Threadgill album)Subject to Change is an album by Henry Threadgill released on the About Time label in 1985. The album features six of Threadgill's compositions performed by Threadgill with Ray Anderson, Rasul Siddik, Fred Hopkins, Diedre Murray, Pheeroan akLaff and John Betsch with Amina Claudine Myers...
(About Time, 1984) - You Know the NumberYou Know the NumberYou Know the Number is an album by Henry Threadgill released on the RCA Novus label in 1986. The album and features six of Threadgill's compositions performed by Threadgill's Sextett with Frank Lacy, Rasul Siddik, Fred Hopkins, Diedre Murray, Pheeroan akLaff and Reggie Nicholson.-Reception:The...
(RCA/Novus, 1986) - Easily Slip Into Another WorldEasily Slip Into Another WorldEasily Slip Into Another World is an album by Henry Threadgill released on the RCA Novus label in 1987. The album and features five of Threadgill's compositions and one by Olu Dara performed by Threadgill with Frank Lacy, Rasul Siddik, Fred Hopkins, Diedre Murray, Pheeroan akLaff and Reggie...
(RCA/Novus, 1987) - Rag, Bush and AllRag, Bush and AllRag, Bush and All is an album by Henry Threadgill released on the RCA Novus label in 1989. The album and features four of Threadgill's compositions performed by Threadgill's Sextett with Bill Lowe, Ted Daniels, Fred Hopkins, Diedre Murray, Newman Baker and Reggie Nicholson.-Reception:The Allmusic...
(RCA/Novus, 1988)
With Tom Varner
Tom Varner
Tom Varner is an American jazz horn player and composer.Varner studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson of Summit, New Jersey. He holds a B.M...
- Tom Varner QuartetTom Varner QuartetTom Varner Quartet is the debut album by American jazz French horn player and composer Tom Varner recorded in 1980 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:...
(Soul Note, 1980)
With the World Saxophone Quartet
World Saxophone Quartet
The World Saxophone Quartet is a jazz ensemble founded in 1977, implementing elements of free funk and African jazz into their musical routines.-History:...
- Breath of LifeBreath of Life (WSQ album)-Track listing:# "Jest a Little" - 9:14# "Cairo Blues" - 1:11# "Suffering with the Blues" - 5:39# "You Don't Know Me" - 6:35# "Picasso" - 5:52...
(Elektra/Nonesuch, 1992)