Lynn Hope, also known as El Hajj Abdullah Rasheed Ahmad, (September 26, 1926 – February 24, 1993) was an American jazz and blues tenor saxophonist noted for his instrumental remakes of established pre-rock pop anthems.
He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States and he first learned music from this town’s legendary “Maker of Musicians,” the bandleader and teacher Fess Whatley, whose classroom launched the careers of many scores of jazz players. Hope joined King Kolax's band when he graduated from high school in Birmingham during the 1940s, before forming his own outfit with his sister and brothers. After converting to Islam, he became noted for wearing a turban or fez.
Hope signed with Miracle Records in 1950, but the contract proved invalid. He moved to Premium Records, where he recorded "Tenderly," a song that was later picked up by Chess Records. Hope recorded often for Aladdin Records between 1951 and 1957, doing such reworked standards as "September Song" and "Summertime." These numbers were often performed with little or no melodic embellishment or improvisation; however the B-sides were often up tempo blues or jump tunes. The recording of "Tenderly" earned Hope his only hit in 1950, reaching number eight on the US Billboard R&B chart and number 19 on the pop music chart.
Lynn Hope was one of the “screamers,” the wild r&b saxophone honkers whose horns helped beget rock and roll. He strode up and down bar tops blowing his horn, bent over backwards and wailed, jumped from the bandstand and paraded through his crowd, worked each room he played until it was ready to explode. His straight, melodic saxophone playing was derided by the musically hip - who renamed him ‘No Hope’ - but his modernization of old standards was loved by the general public (in person, if not on record), and his records often harboured an exciting blues or jump tune on the b-side. Hope recorded his last sessions for King in 1960.
He was also, in the late 1940s into the ‘50s, one of black America’s most prominent Muslims. He twice pilgrimaged to Mecca and traveled all over the Middle East, led prayers at a Philadelphia mosque, taught classes on the Koran and the Arabic language, and he brought hundreds of new converts to the faith. Fans and the media loved his jewelled turbans and his long Egyptian robes, embracing the exotic novelty of his performance and persona. But when Hope spoke out against American racism he found himself the subject of smears, blacklisted from the clubs where he’d once been a star.
In the 1960s, Hope suffered a series of setbacks — personal, financial, and political — and he struggled to stay relevant in a shifting cultural and musical landscape. By the end of the decade, he had faded into obscurity.
Hope died in February 1993, at the age of 66, in Collingswood, New Jersey, United States.
(Edited from Wikipedia, Burgin Mathews & Oldies.com