Earl Hines Biography

Earl “Fatha” Hines played piano in Chicago clubs in the 1920s, first as a soloist and later as a bandleader.

Hines got his start in Pittsburgh in 1918, and played for local singer Lois Deppe, with whom he toured and recorded, beginning in 1923.

Hines moved to Chicago, and he made several recordings with Louis Armstrong in 1927 and 1928, and with Jimmy Noone in 1928.

Energetic and outgoing, Hines was a natural bandleader and formed his own group. He became known for his distinctive rhythmic style — called “trumpet style” — and played during the 1930s for radio broadcasts from Chicago’s Grand Terrace Ballroom.

Hines made scores of recordings, including “Stormy Monday Blues” and “Second Balcony Jump,” toured the world and made records, helped the careers of bop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, and had a last blast of a career when he was rediscovered in the 1960s.

Known for his great technique and talent for improvisation, Hines’ horn-like phrasing and rhythm influenced popular jazz through the swing era and into bebop.