Lynn Hope, also known as El Hajj Abdullah Rasheed Ahmad, (September 26, 1926 – February 24, 1993) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and blues

tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while t ...

. He was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, United States. Hope was noted for his instrumental remakes of established pre-rock pop anthems. Hope joined

King Kolax King Kolax (born William Little, November 6, 1912 – December 18, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. Biography William Little was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1912; he misleadingly claimed he was born in 1918 in later ...

's band when he graduated from high school in Birmingham during the 1940s. After converting to Islam, he became noted for wearing a

turban A turban (from Persian دولبند‌, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promin ...

fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

. Hope signed with Miracle Records in 1950, but the contract proved invalid. He moved to Premium Records, where he recorded " Tenderly," a song that was later picked up by Chess Records. Hope recorded often for Aladdin Records between 1951 and 1957, doing such reworked standards as "

September Song "September Song" is an American standard popular song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. It was introduced by Walter Huston in the 1938 Broadway musical production ''Knickerbocker Holiday.'' The song has been recorded by num ...

" and " Summertime." These numbers were often performed with little or no

melodic A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinat ...

embellishment or improvisation; however the

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

were often up tempo blues or jump tunes. "Tenderly" earned Hope his only hit in 1950, reaching number eight on the US '' Billboard'' R&B chart and number 19 on the

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

chart. Hope recorded his last sessions for King in 1960, but then seemingly left the music industry. Hope died in February 1993, at the age of 66, in Collingswood, New Jersey, United States.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Lynn 1926 births 1993 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Aladdin Records artists