Corky Hale in Hollywood

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

If you're in Los Angeles tomorrow evening (Wednesday), you're in luck. Corky Hale will be playing piano at the Catalina Jazz Club at 6725 Sunset Blvd. She'll be accompanying singer Eloise Laws, sister of flutist Hubert Laws. There's also a special surprise guest.

Corky is best known as one of the most recorded jazz and pop harpists in Hollywood, starting in the 1950s. She's on Ella Fitzgerald's songbook sessions, Frank Sinatra's Capitol dates and behind Chet Baker, Paul Desmond, Gary McFarland, Buddy Collette and the albums of dozens of jazz artists. [Pictured above, Corky with Buddy Collette]

But Corky is also a gorgeous jazz pianist. Her chord voicings are sublime. If you missed my post last year about Corky's appearance on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, go here. For years, I've been begging Corky to record a solo piano album—or at least a piano album with guitar. She's thinking about it. Maybe soon. One can only hope. [Pictured above, Billie Holiday with Corky Hale in 1956]

If you're on the fence about going out on Wednesday, these clips will surely send you on your way:

Here's an audio clip of Corky on piano with with Harry James in 1955...

Here's Corky accompanying Billie Holiday in 1956 on Bobby Troup's Stars of Jazz TV show. Move the clip to My Man at 9:28. As the camera pulls back at 12:33, you'll see Corky at the piano, not Pete Jolly. Corky was working with Holiday at the time in Las Vegas...

Here's Corky on celeste and harp with guitarist Howard Roberts in 1956. Doesn't get any better than this...

Here's Corky in 1965 with Tony Bennett on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson...

Used with permission by Marc Myers