Fred Hopkins
Firestorm
1992 release ** "When it came out in 1992, Firestorm went quite unnoticed. Many missed this very strong, very untypical string-only free jazz date. Cellist Diedre Murray and bassist Fred Hopkins developed a profound musical relationship in the Henry Threadgill Sextet. This CD was the duo's first release. Murray favors a written-down approach; her compositions lay out melodies, phrases, and sections, but also include lots of improvisation and time stretching, and they require the kind of underlyi…
Songlines
Peter Brotzmann, Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tarogato. Fred Hopkins, Double Bass. Rashied Ali, Drums. Recorded by Holger Scheuermann, Jost Gebers, October 30th and 31st, in Berlin, 1991. First released on FMP as FMP CD 53.'In perhaps the most understated performance of his entire career, German saxophone giant Peter Brötzmann played in a trio with American free jazz legends Fred Hopkins and Rashied Ali back in 1991 at the now mythical Total Music Meeting. () Brötzmann appears to have been i…
Live
A previously unreleased concert recording from 1986 of a group of leading out jazz artists (Billy Bang, Fred Hopkins, Andrew Cyrille, &c.). Part of the magic of jazz in New York City is groups of musicians coming together for brief engagements and then moving off into other groups and configurations, leaving fond memories but little recorded evidence of their existence. The Group was a very talented amalgam of musicians, veterans of the free jazz and loft scenes: Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet …