Fred Hopkins
Fred Hopkins (October 11, 1947 – January 7, 1999)
Biography and career
Hopkins was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States,[1] and grew up in a musical family, listening to a wide variety of music from an early age.[8] He attended DuSable High School, where he studied music under "Captain" Walter Dyett, who became well-known for mentoring and training musicians.[9] He was originally inspired to learn the cello after seeing a performance by Pablo Casals on television, but was told by Dyett that because the school didn't have a cello, he would have to play bass. After graduating from high school, he worked at a grocery store, but was encouraged by Dyett and other friends to pursue music more seriously.[8] He soon began playing with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, where he was the first recipient of the Charles Clark Memorial Scholarship,[10] and studying with Joseph Gustafeste, principal bassist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the time,[1][3] as well as picking up piano duo gigs.[8]
In the mid-1960s, Hopkins attended a concert by AACM members at Hyde Park and was intrigued.[8] He began playing with Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, with whom he would make his first recording in 1970 (Forces and Feelings), and started becoming more serious about improvisation,[8] playing with Muhal Richard Abrams's Experimental Band and other related groups.[11] Hopkins stated that a major inspiration at that time was hearing John Coltrane's Coltrane's Sound: "it really changed my whole outlook on music. I knew then that I could do anything I wanted to do... And from that point on, I just got more involved, and started meeting more people over the years."[8]
In the early 1970s, he formed a trio called Reflection with saxophonist
In 1997, he moved back to Chicago,[1] stating that he "got tired of the stress" of living in New York, and reuniting with "ten brothers and sisters and 35 nieces and nephews".[12] He continued to perform, tour, and record with a wide variety of musicians. He died in 1999 at age 51 of heart disease at the University of Chicago Hospital.[3]
Discography
As co-leader with Diedre Murray
- Firestorm (Les Disques Victo, 1992)
- Stringology (Black Saint, 1994)
- Prophecy (About Time, 1998)
With Air
- Air Song (Why Not, 1975)
- Live Air (Black Saint, 1976)
- Air Raid (Why Not, 1976)
- Air Time (Nessa, 1977)
- Open Air Suit (Arista Novus, 1978)
- Montreux Suisse (Arista Novus, 1978)
- Air Lore (Arista Novus, 1979)
- Air Mail (Black Saint, 1980)
- 80° Below '82 (Antilles, 1982)
- Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival (as New Air; Black Saint, 1983)
- Air Show No. 1 (as New Air with Cassandra Wilson; Black Saint, 1986)
As sideman
With Ahmed Abdullah
- Ahmed Abdullah and the Solomonic Quintet (Silkheart, 1988)
With Muhal Richard Abrams
- Colors in Thirty-Third (Soul Note, 1987)
- The Hearinga Suite (Soul Note, 1989)
With Hamiet Bluiett
- Resolution (Black Saint, 1977)
- Ebu (Soul Note, 1984)
- The Clarinet Family (Black Saint, 1987)
- ...If You Have to Ask... You Don't Need to Know (Tutu Records, 1991)
- Im/possible To Keep (India Navigation, 1996)
With Arthur Blythe
- In the Tradition (Columbia, 1979)
- Illusions (Columbia, 1980)
- Blythe Spirit (Columbia, 1981)
With Charles Brackeen
- Attainment (Silkheart, 1987)
- Worshippers Come Nigh (Silkheart, 1987)
With Peter Brötzmann and Rashied Ali
- Songlines (FMP, 1994)
With Peter Brötzmann and Hamid Drake
- The Atlanta Concert (Okka Disk, 2001)
With Marion Brown
- Awofofora (Discomate, 1976)
With John Carter
- Dance of the Love Ghosts (Gramavision, 1987)
- Fields (Gramavision, 1988)
- Shadows on a Wall (Gramavision, 1989)
With Andrew Cyrille
- Ode to the Living Tree (Venus, 1995)
With Marc Edwards
- Black Queen (Alpha Phonics, 1991)
With Kahil El'Zabar
- Love Outside of Dreams (Delmark, 2002)
With The Group (Ahmed Abdullah, Marion Brown, Billy Bang, Sirone, Hopkins, Andrew Cyrille)
- Live (NoBusiness Records, 2012)
With
- Black Bone (Soul Note, 1983)
With Tyrone Henderson
- Not So Unusual Blues (Konnex Records, 2000)
With
- Gifts (Arista Novus, 1979)
With Frank Lacy
- Tonal Weights and Blue Fire (Tutu, 1990)
With Oliver Lake
- Holding Together (Black Saint, 1976)
- Expandable Language (Black Saint, 1984)
- Otherside (Gramavision, 1988)
- Gallery (Gramavision, 1989)
Performing music of Anne LeBaron
- The Musical Railism of Anne LeBaron (Mode, 1995)
With Michael Marcus
- Here At! (Soul Note, 1993)
With Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre
- Forces and Feelings (Delmark, 1970)
With Marcello Melis
- Free to Dance (Black Saint, 1978)
With Jemeel Moondoc
- Judy's Bounce (Soul Note, 1982)
With Butch Morris
- Testament: A Conduction Collection - Conduction 38, In Freud's Garden / Conduction 39, Thread Waxing Space / Conduction 40, Thread Waxing Space (New World Records, 1995)
With David Murray
- Low Class Conspiracy (Adelphi, 1976)
- Flowers for Albert: The Complete Concert (India Navigation, 1976)
- Vol. 1:Penthouse Jazz (Circle, 1977)
- Vol. 2:Holy Siege On Intrigue (Circle, 1977)
- Live at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club (India Navigation, 1978)
- Sweet Lovely (Black Saint, 1979)
- Live at Sweet Basil Volume 1 (Black Saint, 1985)
- Live at Sweet Basil Volume 2 (Black Saint, 1985)
- In Our Style (DIW, 1986)
- Recording N.Y.C. 1986 (DIW, 1986)
- The People's Choice (Cecma, 1987)
- Ballads (DIW, 1988)
- Deep River (DIW, 1988)
- Spirituals (DIW, 1988)
- Lovers (DIW, 1988)
- Tenors (DIW, 1988)
- Special Quartet (DIW/Columbia, 1990)
- David Murray Big Band (DIW/Columbia, 1991)
- David Murray/James Newton Quintet (DIW, 1991)
- Death of a Sideman (DIW, 1992)
- South of the Border (DIW, 1993)
- For Aunt Louise (DIW, 1993)
- Love and Sorrow (DIW, 1993)
- MX (Red Baron, 1993)
- Live '93 Acoustic Octfunk (Sound Hills Records, 1994)
- Dark Star: The Music of the Grateful Dead (Astor, 1996)
With Sunny Murray's Untouchable Factor
- Apple Cores (Philly Jazz, 1980)
With Bern Nix
- Alarms and Excursions (New World, 1993)
With Ivo Perelman
- Children Of Ibeji (Enja, 1992)
With Don Pullen
- Warriors (Black Saint, 1979)
- The Sixth Sense (Black Saint, 1985)
With Horace Tapscott
- Dissent or Descent (Nimbus West, 1984 [1998])
With Malachi Thompson
- Rising Daystar (Delmark, 1997 [1999])
With Henry Threadgill
- X-75 Volume 1 (Arista/Novus, 1979)
- When Was That? (About Time, 1981)
- Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket (About Time, 1983)
- Subject to Change (About Time, 1984)
- You Know the Number (RCA/Novus, 1986)
- Easily Slip Into Another World (RCA/Novus, 1987)
- Rag, Bush and All (RCA/Novus, 1988)
With Tom Varner
- Tom Varner Quartet (Soul Note, 1980)
With the World Bass Violin Ensemble
- Bassically Yours (Black Saint, 1984)
With the World Saxophone Quartet
- Breath of Life(Elektra/Nonesuch, 1992)
With Various artists
- Wildflowers 1: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (performing with Sunny Murray and The Untouchable Factor and Air; Douglas, 1977)
- Wildflowers 2: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (performing with Anthony Braxton; Douglas, 1977)
- Wildflowers 3: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (performing with Michael Gregory Jackson; Douglas, 1977)
- Wildflowers 4: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (performing with Oliver Lake and David Murray; Douglas, 1977)
- Wildflowers 5: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (performing with Sunny Murray and The Untouchable Factor; Douglas, 1977)
- Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions - Complete (reissue of the 5 discs above on 3 CDs; Knit Classics, 1999)
- The Young Lions - A Concert Of New Music Played By Seventeen Exceptional Young Musicians - The Kool Jazz Festival June 30, 1982 (Elektra, 1983)
References
- ^ a b c d e Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (1999). "Hopkins, Fred (Frederick)". The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 329.
- ^ Yanow, Scott. "Fred Hopkins: Artist Biography". AllMusic.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Ratliff, Ben (January 18, 1999). "Fred Hopkins, Experimental Jazz Bassist, 51". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ May, Chris (April 24, 2020). "AACM: Together We Are Stronger". AllAboutJazz.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ "Fred Hopkins: Biography". AllAboutJazz.com. June 7, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ Giddins, Gary (2004). Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of its Second Century. Oxford University Press. p. 481.
- ^ Reich, Howard (January 10, 1999). "Fred Hopkins, 51, Jazz Bassist with Unique, 'Creative' Style". ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Panken, Ted (August 2, 1987). "Interview: Fred Hopkins August 2, 1987, WCKR-FM New York". JazzHouse.org. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ Lewis, George E. (2008). A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music. University of Chicago Press. pp. 12–13.
- ^ Lewis, George E. (2008). A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music. University of Chicago Press. p. 482.
- ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Margasak, Peter (January 9, 1997). "Home Bass: Fred Hopkins / New York Got Old". ChicagoReader.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ "Air Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.