As a youngster growing up in Atlantic City, Stan Hope and his friends would climb the roof of the building across from the club where the Count Basie Orchestra was playing. Listening to Basie's band which boasted, among others, Lester Young, Buck Clayton and Freddie Green, Hope begin thinking that this was what he wanted to do. He was pushed over the line when his aunt gave him records of Erroll Garner playing "Be Anything" and Garner's composition "Pastels," for his birthday. Both these tunes appear on Hope's album Pastels, made for Savant Records (SCD 2020). Stan is once again behind the Steinway at the Van Gelder Studio delivering a garland of Garner-esque pearls with his long-time colleagues, Ray Drummond and Kenny Washington in tow. Also on hand for a special guest appearance is Hope’s friend and sometimes employer, Houston Person lending his tasty, bronze-toned arabesques to three unforgettable tracks.

with Ray Drummond, bass; Kenny Washington, drums.  Special guest appearance: Houston Person, tenor sax.

Tracks: Then I’ll Be Tired of You; My Ship; R.D.’s Blues; Easy to Love; Put On a Happy Face; They Can’t Take That Away From Me; The Masquerade Is Over; Somewhere in the Night; I’ll Never Stop Loving You/The Island; K.W. Groove.

R.D.'s Blues

Put On a Happy Face

I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over

K.W. Groove