Bill Hardman....

Bill Hardman was one of hard bop's go-to trumpeters, best known for his three separate stints in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Urgent and edgy with a raw, tart, and slightly pinched tone, Hardman's energy was well-suited to the soulful style. His adept knowledge of the idiom made him a reliable and prolific sideman in the late 1950s and 1960s, and he remained active until his death in Paris in 1990.

Hardman utilized a scampering, running style in the vein of Clifford Brown and Kenny Dorham. His technique at faster tempos could be unclean and he sometimes sounded uncomfortably hurried as if racing to catch up with the beat.

He was more accurate at mid-tempos, where he could better control his articulation, and he possessed a strong, consistent high range which he used wisely. In the later 1960s, Hardman developed a tender, fuller tone, though it still retained hints of the brittleness it had in the 1950s.

William Franklin Hardman, Jr. was born in Cleveland, OH on April 6, 1933. He studied both trumpet and trombone as a youth. After settling on trumpet, Roy Eldridge and Louis Armstrong became Hardman's early influences until he heard Charlie Parker at age sixteen.

He began playing trumpet professionally soon after, performing with Tadd Dameron while still a teenager. Hardman joined fellow Ohioan Tiny Bradshaw's jump blues band in 1953, staying with the singer/pianist into 1955. He can be heard in the ensemble on tracks included on Bradshaw's King Records compilation The Great Composer.

In the spring of 1956, Hardman spent a few months in bassist Charles Mingus's group. Documented only by radio broadcasts, it was in Mingus's group that Hardman first met and played with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and pianist Mal Waldron.

McLean's album Jackie's Pal, recorded on August 31, 1956, introduced Hardman on record to the jazz listening public. Even on this first recording Hardman and McLean prove to be a powerful and empathetic frontline pairing; Hardman was one of few trumpeters that could blend with McLean's intentionally sharp intonation and biting tone. They are also heard together on the altoist's McLean's Scene (1956) and Jackie McLean & Co. (1957). All three albums include Waldron on piano.

Drummer Art Blakey soon snatched up both McLean and Hardman to fill the frontline of his newly reformed Jazz Messengers. Completed by Philadelphians Sam Dockery and Spanky DeBrest on piano and bass, respectively, this second edition of the Jazz Messengers was sandwiched in between two of Blakey's most famous groups, resulting in a much overlooked position on the Blakey timeline.
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