Hampton Hawes (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an American bebop and hard-bop jazz pianist, recognized as one of the finest and most influential of the 1950s. Hampton Barnett Hawes, Jr. was born November 13, 1928 in Los Angeles, California. His father, Hampton Hawes, Sr., was minister of Westminster Presbysterian Church in Los Angeles. His mother, the former Gertrude Holman, was Westminster's church pianist. Hawes' first experience with the piano was as a toddler sitting on his mother's lap while she practiced.