(Hard Bop, Piano Jazz) Bobby Timmons - Chun-King (1964) - 2000, MP3, 320 kbps

Robert Henry Timmons (December 19, 1935 – March 1, 1974) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He was a sideman in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers for two periods (July 1958 to September 1959; February 1960 to June 1961), between which he was part of Cannonball Adderley's band. Several of Timmons' compositions written when part of these bands – including "Moanin'", "Dat Dere", and "This Here" – enjoyed commercial success and brought him more attention. In the early and mid-1960s he led a series of piano trios that toured and recorded extensively.
Timmons was strongly associated with the soul jazz style that he helped initiate. This link to apparently simple writing and playing, coupled with drug and alcohol addiction, led to a decline in his career. Timmons died, aged 38, from cirrhosis. Several critics have commented that his contribution to jazz remains undervalued.

Chun-King is an album by American jazz pianist Bobby Timmons recorded in 1964 and released on the Prestige label. The Allmusic review by Jason Ankeny awarded the album 4 stars calling it "an intimate, soulful session that spotlights the range and command of all involved". Recorded in Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, August 12, 1964.
Bobby Timmons' second Prestige date pairs the pianist with bassist Keter Betts and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath for an intimate, soulful session that spotlights the range and command of all involved. From the poignant "Someone to Watch Over Me" to the lithe "I Could Have Danced All Night" to the lively "O Grande Amor," the group proves remarkably nimble and expressive, interacting with a complexity that belies the limitations of the trio format. Chun-King also charts Timmons' continuing evolution as a composer, highlighted by the cocksure blues of "Walking Death" and the gospel-inspired "Gettin' It Together." [Reissued in 2003 along with the preceding Little Barefoot Soul as The Prestige Trio Sessions.]

Bobby Timmons – piano
Keter Betts – bass
Albert Heath – drums