Bill Hardman

For the Australian rugby player, see Bill Hardman (rugby league).

William Franklin Hardman Jr. (April 6, 1933 – December 6, 1990) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist who chiefly played hard bop. He was married to Roseline and they had a daughter Nadege.^[1]

Career

Hardman was born and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio,^[2] and worked with local players including Bobby Few and Bob Cunningham; while in high school he appeared with Tadd Dameron, and after graduation he joined Tiny Bradshaw's band.^[2] Hardman's first recording was with Jackie McLean in 1956; he later played with Charles Mingus, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver, and Lou Donaldson, and led a group with Junior Cook.^[2] Hardman also recorded as a leader: Saying Something on the Savoy label received critical acclaim in jazz circles,^{[citation needed]} but was little known to the general public. He had three periods in as many decades with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers;^[2] Hardman's misfortune was not to be with the Messengers at the time of their popular Blue Note recordings. Blakey occasionally featured him playing several extended choruses unaccompanied.

He died in Paris, France, of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 57.^[1][3]

Playing style and legacy

A crackling hard bop player with blazing technique, crisp articulations, and a no-frills sound, Hardman later incorporated into his sound the fuller, more extroverted romantic passion of a Clifford Brown – a direction he would take increasingly throughout the late-1960s and 1970s. He figures by and large among the top ranks of hardbop titans of the time,^{[citation needed]} although he never managed a commercial breakthrough like many of his colleagues such as Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan.

Discography

As leader

• 1961 – Saying Something (Savoy)
• 1978 – Home (Muse)
• 1980 – Focus (Muse)
• 1981 – Politely (Muse)
• 1989 – What's Up (SteepleChase)

With Brass Company

• 1975 – Colors (Strata-East)^[4]

As sideman

With Dave Bailey

• 2 Feet in the Gutter (Epic, 1961)

With Art Blakey

• Hard Bop (Columbia, 1956)
• Originally (Columbia, 1956 [1982])
• Drum Suite (Columbia, 1957)
• Selections from Lerner and Loewe's... (Vik, 1957)
• Tough! (Cadet, 1957 [1966])
• A Night in Tunisia (Vik, 1957)
• Cu-Bop (Jubilee, 1957)
• Ritual: The Modern Jazz Messengers (Pacific Jazz 1957)
• A Midnight Session with the Jazz Messengers (Elektra, 1957)
• Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk (Atlantic, 1957)
• Hard Drive (Bethlehem, 1957)
• Art Blakey Big Band (Bethlehem, 1957)
• Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (Live at Slug's (1968) (Everest 1977)
• Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (Moanin' Live (1968) (Laserlight CD)
• Jazz Messengers '70 (Catalyst, 1970)
• In Walked Sonny Jazz Messengers with Sonny Stitt (Sonnet 1975)
• Backgammon (Roulette, 1976)

With Walter Bishop Jr

• Hot House (Muse, 1977/78 [1979])

With Junior Cook

• Good Cookin' (Muse, 1979)

With Lou Donaldson

• Sunny Side Up (Blue Note, 1960)
• Possum Head (Argo, 1964)
• Musty Rusty (Cadet, 1965)
• Fried Buzzard (Cadet, 1965)

With Charles Earland

• Infant Eyes (Muse, 1979)
• Pleasant Afternoon (Muse, 1981)

With Curtis Fuller

• Crankin' (Mainstream, 1971)
• Smokin' (Mainstream, 1972)

With Benny Golson

• Pop + Jazz = Swing (Audio Fidelity, 1961) – also released as Just Jazz!

With Eddie Jefferson

• Come Along with Me (Prestige, 1969)

With Ronnie Mathews

• Legacy (Bee Hive, 1979)

With Jackie McLean

• Jackie's Pal (Prestige, 1956)
• McLean's Scene (New Jazz, 1956)
• Jackie McLean & Co. (Prestige, 1957)

With Jimmy McGriff

• Movin' Upside the Blues (JAM, 1982)

With Charles Mingus

• A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry (Bethlehem, 1957)

With Hank Mobley

• Hank Mobley (album) (Blue Note, 1957)

With Houston Person

• Wild Flower (Muse, 1977)

With Mickey Tucker

• Sojourn (Xanadu, 1977)

With Steve Turre

• Viewpoints and Vibrations (Stash, 1987)

With Mal Waldron

• Mal 2 (Prestige, 1957) – with John Coltrane

With Reuben Wilson

• The Sweet Life (Groove Merchant, 1973)

With Dodo Marmarosa

• Dodo Marmarosa - The Chicago Sessions (1961-1962)[2 LP] (Argo Jazz, LP2, 1962-11-02)

References

1. Peter Watrous (December 8, 1990). "Bill Hardman, 57, Trumpeter Known For Improvisations". The New York Times. p. 1 31. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
2. Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1082. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
3. "SHORT TAKES : Jazz Trumpeter Hardman Dies". Los Angeles Times. December 6, 1990. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
4. "Colors – Bill Hardman | User Reviews". AllMusic. Retrieved September 9, 2021.