Earl Hines Earl "Fatha" Hines was a master showman but a modest man. He liked to say that he never really thought of himself as a piano soloist. In fact, he was one of the masters of the jazz keyboard. A 1928 series of recordings—both as a soloist and in duet with Louis Armstrong—brought a new kind of virtuosity to the music and set a new and demanding standard for jazz pianists. That same year, he began a twenty-year career as a bandleader during which he usually kept his piano playing to a chorus or two. Bebop held no fears for him and by hiring Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and singers Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan for his 1943 band he helped provide a training ground for that movement. He played for a time with his old collaborator Armstrong and then, in 1964, began a second career, as a soloist this time, leading his own trios and quartets, and reestablishing his reputation as a top-flight pianist even among much younger musicians. The avant-gardist Lennie Tristano hailed Hines as "great, immense, unique." Count Basie Roy Eldridge Ella Fitzgerald Benny Goodman Earl Hines Johnny Hodges "Papa" Jo Jones Charles Mingus Joe "King" Oliver Max Roach Sonny Rollins Fats Waller View press release for more information.