Claude Hopkins

Claude Hopkins demonstrated remarkable command of stride piano yet failed to achieve the prominence his abilities warranted. Early on he functioned as a bandleader, serving as musical director for Josephine Baker during her European engagements in the mid-1920s. After returning to the United States in 1926 he formed his own units and, in 1930, assumed direction of Charlie Skeete’s orchestra. From 1932 to 1935 the resulting big band recorded extensively, sessions later reissued across three Classics compact discs. Jimmy Mundy supplied the arrangements, while featured soloists included trumpeter and vocalist Ovie Alston, trombonist Fernando Arbello, clarinetist Edmond Hall still in his youth, baritone and tenor saxophonist Bobby Sands, and the high-note vocals of Orlando Roberson. Although ensemble inaccuracies appear frequently and Hopkins’ powerhouse piano sometimes resists integration with the full ensemble, the performances remain largely engaging. Mundy’s unconventional “Mush Mouth” emerged as a standout, and Hopkins introduced his best-known composition, “I Would Do Anything for You.” Despite steady work at Roseland from 1931 to 1935 and the Cotton Club from 1935 to 1936, plus further sessions in 1937 and 1940, the orchestra never achieved widespread acceptance and disbanded at the height of the swing era. Hopkins later led an unrecorded big band from 1944 to 1947 but thereafter concentrated on small groups. He worked with Red Allen’s ensemble throughout the second half of the 1950s, directed his own band from 1960 to 1966, and appeared with the Jazz Giants alongside Wild Bill Davison in 1968. An obscure 1958 album appeared on 20th Century Fox, followed by three Swingville dates between 1960 and 1963. His strongest later recordings were solo stride sessions for Chiaroscuro and Sackville, both from 1972, and a 1974 trio date for Black & Blue; the limited documentation of his piano work remains surprising.