Lynn Hope
Lynn Hope (born September 26, 1926 in Birmingham; died February 24, 1993) was a tenor saxophone player active in the 1940s and 1950s.
Hope's family moved to Lincoln Heights, near Cincinnati, Ohio, when he was one year old. After graduating from high school he joined King Kolax's big band, where he played alongside Joe Houston and John Coltrane. He signed his combo with Lee Egalnick's Miracle Records in Chicago, Illinois in 1950, but before he was able to record, Egalnick had left to found Premium Records, which recorded Hope's biggest hit, "Tenderly," as its first release. The single peaked at #8 on the rhythm & blues chart and at #19 on the pop chart. Chess Records bought Premium's masters when the label folded in 1951. In 1953 Hope's 11-year-old adopted son, Nat Henderson joined the group as a vocalist and dancer. Hope went on to record through 1957 for the Los Angeles, California-based Aladdin Records. Most of his Aladdin singles were straightforward performances of jazz standards, with more up-tempo numbers on the B-sides. His last recordings, made in 1960, were released on the King label.
In 1951 Hope, who had converted to Islam, adopted Middle-Eastern and Egyptian dress, including a variety of custom-made fezzes and turbans. In tours through the South, he made a practice of correcting business owners who attempted to deny service to him and his band, saying, "We are not Negroes but members of the Moslem faith. Our customs are Eastern. We claim the nationality of our Arabic ancestors as well as their customs." He claimed to "invariably" receive courteous treatment.
Beginning in the early 1950s, Hope was engaged as a regular performer at Al Jenkins' Showboat Lounge in Philadelphia's Douglass Hotel. Hope and his family moved to the city and were active in the local Sunni Muslim community centered around the Adenu Allahe Universal Arabic Association. Hope made his first visit to Saudi Arabia in 1952, briefly moved his family to Egypt in 1955, and completed a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1958. He changed his name to Al Hajji Abdullah Rascheed Ahmed, shortened to Hajj Rashid, but continued to record and perform as Lynn Hope.
References
- "Moslem Musicians: Mohammedan Religion Has Great Appeal For Many Talented Progressive Jazz Men" (April 1953) Ebony pp. 104–111
- Graves, Arnold (April 2, 1955) "Music's Man in the Turban: Here Is Another Side of Lynn Hope, a Good Jazz Artist and a Moslem" Pittsburgh Courier
External links
- Lynn Hope at allmusic.com