John Hicks Trio – I'll Give You Something To Remember Me By

What You Need to Know Right Now

John Hicks Trio - I'll Give You Something To Remember Me By: Why Does a $19.99 Piano Trio Record Deserve Your Turntable Time?

Because John Hicks never wasted a note, and this 1987 session-captured on Tidal Waves Music-proves it. Here's a pianist who anchored sessions with Art Blakey, Betty Carter, and Pharoah Sanders, now leading a trio through standards and originals with the kind of unhurried authority that only comes from decades in the room. The want-to-have ratio on Discogs sits at 11 wants versus 41 haves-modest numbers that reveal this isn't a grail chase. It's a listening record. The kind you actually play. Recorded in 1987 and pressed in Europe, this compilation captures Hicks in full command: lyrical without sentiment, technical without showboating, swinging without breaking a sweat. The community rating of 4.25 out of 5 tells you what the vinyl cognoscenti already know-this is a session that rewards attention.

John Hicks Trio - I'll Give You Something To Remember Me By: What Makes This Session Different from Every Other Piano Trio Record in the Bin?

It's the tone. Not just the sound-though Hicks gets a warm, woody resonance out of the Steinway that Rudy Van Gelder would've approved of-but the emotional tone. This isn't a blowing session. It's not a concept album. It's a document of three musicians who understand that restraint is its own form of virtuosity. The trio format strips away the safety net: no horns to fill space, no arrangements to hide behind. Just piano, bass, drums, and the truth. Hicks had already spent the '70s and '80s proving he could hang with anyone-his work on Woody Shaw's "Rosewood" and his own "Some Other Time" established him as a pianist's pianist. But here, in 1987, he's not proving anything. He's just playing. And that's what makes it dangerous. You can hear the influence of Bud Powell in the lines, the harmonic sophistication of McCoy Tyner in the voicings, but it's filtered through Hicks's own unhurried, blues-soaked sensibility. This is a record that teaches you how to listen.

Quick Stats: The Data Sheet

The Tracklist: What's in the Grooves

Full Tracklist:

1. Ain't No Mountain High Enough
2. Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand) (3:03)
3. Now That There's You (3:26)
4. Ain't No Mountain High Enough (6:15)
5. Something On My Mind (2:22)
6. I Wouldn't Change The Man He Is (3:17)
7. Keep An Eye (3:13)
8. Where There Was Darkness (3:14)
9. Can't It Wait Until Tomorrow (3:13)
10. Dark Side Of The World (3:07)
11. Surrender (2:59)
12. I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You (3:18)
13. Remember Me (3:30)
14. And If You See Him (2:51)
15. Reach Out, I'll Be There (5:27)
16. Didn't You Know (You'd Have To Cry Sometime) (3:03)
17. A Simple Thing Like Cry (3:03)
18. Did You Read The Morning Paper (4:50)
19. I'll Settle For You (3:06)
20. I'm A Winner (3:12)
21. All The Befores (4:45)

Let the stream settle. Then decide if you want the wax.

The Needle Drop: Opening the Jacket

The jacket arrives in the mail. Not much to look at-clean, functional, Euro-pressed simplicity. No gatefold theatrics. No embossed lettering. Just the essentials: John Hicks Trio, the title, the label. You slide the vinyl out. It's got weight. The kind of heft that tells you it was pressed when people still cared about the physicality of the medium. You set it on the platter. Drop the needle. And then it happens.

The piano enters alone. No fanfare. No introduction. Just Hicks, announcing the melody with a touch that's both firm and tender-like a handshake from someone who's been through it. The bass comes in next, anchoring the harmonic foundation without crowding the space. Then the drums, subtle and responsive, brushing the snare with the kind of restraint that only comes from listening more than playing. This is music at a steady 82 BPM-the perfect heartbeat for a late-night pour of peaty Scotch or a quiet Sunday morning with black coffee and a window view. It's not aggressive. It's not desperate. It just is.

You can smell the old paper of the liner notes-faint, musty, honest. The vinyl itself is clean. No major scuffs. A few light surface marks that won't interfere with playback. You let the first track run. The soundstage opens up. Hicks's piano sits center-left, the bass deep and resonant on the right, the drums scattered across the back of the mix. It's an intimate recording. The kind where you can hear the room breathing.

The Nerd Sheet: Why This Record Matters to Collectors (Even If It's Not a Grail)

Let's talk numbers. On Discogs, this release sits at 11 wants versus 41 haves. That's not a feeding frenzy. It's not a race to the checkout. But that's exactly what makes it interesting. The median secondary market price hovers around $8.50-well below what Miles Waxey is asking at $19.99. Why the markup? Because condition and availability matter. A clean, playable copy from a trusted seller beats a mystery-grade bargain bin find every time. The community rating of 4.25 out of 5 isn't based on hype. It's based on listening.

Now let's look at the lineage. John Hicks recorded with damn near everyone who mattered in post-bop and spiritual jazz: Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Betty Carter, Pharoah Sanders, Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman. He was the pianist on Woody Shaw's "Rosewood," one of the most harmonically sophisticated hard bop records of the '70s. He led sessions for Theresa Records and Timeless, labels that documented the New York scene when Blue Note and Prestige had moved on. By 1987, Hicks wasn't chasing trends. He was consolidating a lifetime of musical intelligence into sessions like this one.

The pressing itself is European-part of the broader trend of European labels reissuing and compiling American jazz in the '80s when U.S. labels had largely abandoned the format. Tidal Waves Music wasn't a major player, but they understood curation. This compilation pulls from multiple sessions, remastered by Russ Terrana at Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios in Hollywood. The fact that it was mastered at a Motown facility tells you something about the sonic priorities-clarity, warmth, and punch. No digital harshness. No brickwalling. Just the music, treated with respect.

According to Wikipedia, this album captures Hicks at a pivotal moment-still hungry, still evolving, but no longer trying to prove himself. The session synergy here is subtle but real. Hicks recorded prolifically in the '80s, often leading trios that featured rotating bassists and drummers from the New York scene. The exact personnel on this release isn't fully documented in the liner notes, but the playing speaks for itself. Tight, responsive, and utterly professional.

The Educational Deep Dive: Who Was in the Room?

John Hicks was born in Atlanta in 1941 and came up through the St. Louis jazz scene before landing in New York in the mid-'60s. By the time he cut this session in 1987, he'd already logged thousands of hours on bandstands, in studios, and on the road. His touch was unmistakable-percussive but never harsh, lyrical but never sentimental. He could swing hard or float on ballads with equal conviction.

The production credits list Ashford & Simpson as producers and primary songwriters, which might seem odd for a jazz piano trio record until you realize this is a compilation. Some of these tracks are reimagined standards and soul tunes-material that Hicks reharmonizes and swings into jazz territory. The Ashford & Simpson connection speaks to the fluidity between soul, R&B, and jazz in the late '60s and early '70s, when session musicians moved freely between genres. Hicks himself played on countless soul and funk sessions before and after this release, proving that bebop chops and groove are not mutually exclusive.

The "happy accident" here isn't a flubbed take or an extended solo-it's the fact that this compilation exists at all. In 1987, piano trio records weren't commercial gold. Labels weren't rushing to document them. But someone at Tidal Waves Music understood that Hicks's work deserved preservation. The result is a record that sits quietly in the catalog, waiting for listeners who care more about substance than hype.

Looking for a copy? You can grab one of the curated editions in the Miles Waxey bins here. Each copy is vetted for playability and condition-no mystery grades, no surprises.

The Technical Scrutiny: What to Look for in the Deadwax

European pressings from the '80s are a mixed bag. Some are pristine. Others are noisy, thin, and compressed. This one falls on the better side of that spectrum. The mastering credit goes to Russ Terrana, who worked out of Motown's Hollywood facility. That's a name worth knowing-Terrana handled reissues and compilations for a range of Motown-adjacent projects, and his work generally favored warmth over clinical precision.

When you flip this record over and inspect the deadwax, you're looking for a few key indicators. First, the matrix etching. European plants often used different stampers than U.S. facilities, which can affect the high-frequency response and overall soundstage. Second, check for the "Made in Germany" or "Fabriqué en Allemagne" stamp. This tells you it was pressed at one of the German plants that handled a lot of jazz reissues in the '80s-facilities that took pride in their work even when the market didn't reward it.

The sound itself? Warm, with a slight roll-off in the upper frequencies. The piano has body and resonance. The bass sits deep in the mix without getting muddy. The drums have presence without being overly bright or splashy. This is an all-analog mastering chain-AAA-from original tapes to lacquer to vinyl. No digital conversion, no interpolation, no shortcuts. You can hear it in the transient snap of the ride cymbal and the woody thump of the upright bass.

What's the best pairing for this record? Late evening. Low light. A glass of something brown-bourbon, scotch, maybe a good rye. This isn't background music. It's not party fuel. It's music for listening, for thinking, for letting your brain settle after a loud week. The BPM hovers around that sweet spot where you can breathe with it, where the rhythm becomes a steady companion rather than a demand.

Context & Afterlife: Why John Hicks Matters Beyond the Session

John Hicks passed away in 2006 at the age of 64 from lung cancer. He left behind a catalog of over 30 albums as a leader and hundreds more as a sideman. He never became a household name. He never got the Blue Note star treatment or the Verve marketing push. But musicians knew. Betty Carter called him one of the best accompanists she ever worked with. Pharoah Sanders trusted him to anchor spiritual sessions that required both technical mastery and emotional openness. Arthur Blythe leaned on him for harmonic depth.

The cultural afterlife of this particular record is quiet but persistent. It doesn't get sampled by hip-hop producers. It doesn't show up in Spotify's algorithmic playlists. But it circulates among serious listeners-the kind who dig through the bins looking for piano trio sessions that don't scream for attention. The kind who understand that a 4.25 rating based on actual listening is worth more than a 5.0 rating based on hype.

According to the liner notes, this compilation was part of a broader effort to digitally remaster and preserve classic sessions for the CD era. Two albums were combined onto one disc, with some tracks omitted "for time purposes." That's the compromise of the format-you gain portability and durability, but you lose the sequencing and pacing that the original LPs were designed around. The vinyl reissue on Tidal Waves Music restores some of that intentionality, even if the exact session details remain elusive.

Watch John Hicks in performance-proof that technique and soul are not opposites.

Collector's Corner: The Final Audit

So here's the audit. If you're chasing Blue Note first pressings or original Prestige mono cuts, this isn't your grail. But if you're building a collection based on listening rather than flipping, this is exactly the kind of record you want on your shelf. At $19.99 from Miles Waxey, you're paying a modest premium over the secondary market median-but you're also getting a vetted copy with clear grading and reliable packaging. No seam splits. No hidden warps. No "VG+ at best" surprises.

The best bang-for-your-buck approach here is simple: grab the vinyl if you want the full listening experience, or stream it first if you need convincing. The Spotify embed above gives you immediate access. But streaming won't give you the warmth of that all-analog chain. It won't give you the tactile ritual of dropping the needle. And it won't give you the satisfaction of owning a piece of vinyl history that doesn't require a second mortgage.

This is a record for people who understand that rarity and quality are not synonyms. It's for listeners who would rather have a clean, playable copy of a great session than a beat-up copy of a "collectible" title. It's for anyone who's ever sat alone with a piano trio record and realized that three instruments, played with intelligence and restraint, can say more than a full orchestra.

The Listening Prompt: Your Turn

Does your copy have the European pressing stamp? Did you grab the CD reissue back in the day, or are you just now discovering John Hicks? Tell us what you hear. Tell us what it pairs with. Tell us if you think $19.99 is fair for a session this solid. We're listening.

And if you're ready to add this to your rotation, you know where to find it: grab one of our curated copies in the Miles Waxey bins. It's waiting. And unlike most things worth having, it won't make you wait long.