This excellent but little-known effort was originally put out by the quickly obsolete Beacon label. The talented pianist
Elmo Hope performs six of his originals, including "Mo's Bluff" and "Crazy," in trios with either
Paul Chambers or
Butch Warren on bass and
Philly Joe Jones or
Granville Hogan on drums. Since there is just barely 26 minutes of music and this V.S.O.P. reissue has not yet resurfaced on CD, it is not an essential release, but the music is quite worthwhile and enjoyable. In fact,
Elmo Hope's relatively slim discography makes all of his recordings quite valuable due to his talent.