Fred Hopkins was born on October 11, 1947, and passed away on January 7, 1999. He was an American musician who played the double bass and played an important part in the development of experimental jazz. He was most known for working with the trio Air, which included Henry Threadgill and Steve McCall. He performed and recorded music with many famous jazz musicians, such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake, and David Murray. He was a member of the AACM and often participated in the loft jazz scene during the 1970s. He also co-led several albums with Diedre Murray, a composer and cellist. Gary Giddins said that Hopkins' playing combined strong power with quick reflexes. Howard Reich, who wrote for the Chicago Tribune, noted that many experts believed Hopkins was the most skilled jazz bassist of his time and praised his smooth technique, rich sound, and creative use of his instrument.

Biography and career

Hopkins was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He grew up in a family that loved music and listened to many different types of music from a young age. He went to DuSable High School, where he studied music with "Captain" Walter Dyett, a teacher known for helping and training musicians. He first wanted to learn the cello after seeing a performance by Pablo Casals on television. However, Dyett told him the school did not have a cello, so he had to play the bass instead. After high school, he worked at a grocery store. Dyett and his friends encouraged him to take music more seriously. He then joined the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, where he received the first Charles Clark Memorial Scholarship. He also studied with Joseph Gustafeste, a principal bassist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the time, and played piano with other musicians.

In the mid-1960s, Hopkins attended a concert by members of the AACM at Hyde Park and became interested in their music. He began playing with Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre and made his first recording in 1970 called Forces and Feelings. He started focusing more on improvisation, playing with Muhal Richard Abrams's Experimental Band and other groups. He said hearing John Coltrane's Coltrane's Sound changed his view of music. He felt he could do anything he wanted and became more involved in music, meeting many people over time.

In the early 1970s, he formed a trio called Reflection with saxophonist Henry Threadgill and drummer Steve McCall. In 1975, he and many other Chicago free-jazz musicians moved to New York. There, he reunited with Threadgill and McCall, and they renamed their trio Air. They toured and recorded together. He also joined the AACM, participated in New York's loft scene, and gained recognition over the next decades. He performed and recorded with artists such as Roy Haynes, Muhal Richard Abrams, Hamiet Bluiett, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake, David Murray, Diedre Murray, and Don Pullen. He also played with groups led by Threadgill.

In 1997, he returned to Chicago, saying he was tired of the stress of living in New York. He reunited with family members, including ten brothers and sisters and 35 nieces and nephews. He continued performing, touring, and recording with many musicians. He died in 1999 at age 51 from heart disease at the University of Chicago Hospital.

Discography

• Firestorm (Les Disques Victo, 1992)
• Stringology (Black Saint, 1994)
• Prophecy (About Time, 1998)

• Air Song (Why Not, 1975)
• Live Air (Black Saint, 1976)
• Air Raid (Why Not, 1976)
• Air Time (Nessa, 1977)
• Open Air Suit (Arista Novus, 1978)
• Montreux Suisse (Arista Novus, 1978)
• Air Lore (Arista Novus, 1979)
• Air Mail (Black Saint, 1980)
• 80° Below '82 (Antilles, 1982)
• Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival (as New Air; Black Saint, 1983)
• Air Show No. 1 (as New Air with Cassandra Wilson; Black Saint, 1986)

• Ahmed Abdullah and the Solomonic Quintet (Silkheart, 1988)

With Muhal Richard Abrams
• Colors in Thirty-Third (Soul Note, 1987)
• The Hearinga Suite (Soul Note, 1989)

• Resolution (Black Saint, 1977)
• Ebu (Soul Note, 1984)
• The Clarinet Family (Black Saint, 1987)
• …If You Have to Ask… You Don't Need to Know (Tutu Records, 1991)
• Im/possible To Keep (India Navigation, 1996)

• In the Tradition (Columbia, 1979)
• Illusions (Columbia, 1980)
• Blythe Spirit (Columbia, 1981)

With Charles Brackeen
• Attainment (Silkheart, 1987)
• Worshippers Come Nigh (Silkheart, 1987)

With Peter Brötzmann and Rashied Ali
• Songlines (FMP, 1994)

With Peter Brötzmann and Hamid Drake
• The Atlanta Concert (Okka Disk, 2001)

• Awofofora (Discomate, 1976)

• Dance of the Love Ghosts (Gramavision, 1987)
• Fields (Gramavision, 1988)
• Shadows on a Wall (Gramavision, 1989)

• Ode to the Living Tree (Venus, 1995)

• Black Queen (Alpha Phonics, 1991)

• Love Outside of Dreams (Delmark, 2002)

With The Group (Ahmed Abdullah, Marion Brown, Billy Bang, Sirone, Hopkins, Andrew Cyrille)
• Live (NoBusiness Records, 2012)

• Black Bone (Soul Note, 1983)

With Tyrone Henderson
• Not So Unusual Blues (Konnex Records, 2000)

With Michael Gregory Jackson
• Gifts (Arista Novus, 1979)

• Tonal Weights and Blue Fire (Tutu, 1990)

• Holding Together (Black Saint, 1976)
• Expandable Language (Black Saint, 1984)
• Otherside (Gramavision, 1988)
• Gallery (Gramavision, 1989)

Performing music of Anne LeBaron
• The Musical Railism of Anne LeBaron (Mode, 1995)

• Here At! (Soul Note, 1993)

With Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre
• Forces and Feelings (Delmark, 1970)

• Free to Dance (Black Saint, 1978)

• Judy's Bounce (Soul Note, 1982)

• Testament: A Conduction Collection –