Hines, Earl "Fatha"

Hines, Earl "Fatha" (Earl Kenneth Hines) (fä`thə), 1903–83, American jazz pianist, b. Duquesne, Pa. The son of musicians, he played jazz piano in big bands as a young man and in 1927 joined Louis Armstrong's quintet in Chicago. Under Armstrong's influence, he originated the "trumpet style" of piano playing, in which he produced hornlike solo lines on octaves with his right hand and the harmony with his left. From 1928 to 1947 he led his own band and in the 1950s and 60s toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan.