D. Coleman

Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster first met at a Kansas City jam session at which Hawkins finally encountered his match in local tenors Webster, Herschel Evans, and Lester Young. The all-night meeting has become the stuff of legend (and a continuous thread in Robert Altman's film Kansas City, though there it's reduced to two tenors). Recorded by Norman Granz, this 1957 meeting supports the two with fine accompaniment that includes Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, and Herb Ellis. The material includes the great "Blues for Yolanda," with a honking, squeaking solo that suggests Hawkins is the father of all R&B tenor saxophonists as well as those in jazz, while "Rosalita" has an engaging Latin beat…

Continuing Contemporary Records’ 70th anniversary celebration, Craft Recordings is proud to announce the release of the new box set, Ornette Coleman – Genesis of Genius: The Contemporary Albums : 2-LP, 2-CD and digital formats out March 25. The sets feature two seminal releases, 1958’s Something Else!!!! The Music of Ornette Coleman and 1959’s Tomorrow Is the Question! The New Music of Ornette Coleman. These albums transformed an unknown jazz visionary from the hinterlands into the talk of the New York scene.

Recognized most for his keyboard work but also a composer, producer, arranger, and vocoder-armed vocalist, Brandon Coleman is among the flock of jazz-rooted musicians hatched out of Los Angeles during the early 2000s. The musician is connected with virtually all West Coast luminaries of his generation – Kamasi Washington, Ryan Porter, Miles Mosley, Thundercat, and so on – and has ventured stylistically afield with Babyface and Anthony Hamilton among those who have sought his talent. Moreover, Coleman is likely the lone link from smooth jazz stalwart Boney James to polyglot experimentalist Flying Lotus, the latter of whom featured him on Until the Quiet Comes and You're Dead!, and issued Resistance on his Brainfeeder label. This is actually Coleman's second album as a leader. His first, Self Taught, received a low-key release in 2011 and a few years later was reissued in Japan. Like it, Resistance enables Coleman to indulge in his affinity for late-'70s/early-'80s electronic funk from a jazz perspective. As a teenager, around the time he started learning to play, his head was spun by Herbie Hancock's vocoder-ized Sunlight, and that work, as well as other openhearted moments of the master's catalog from Man-Child through Lite Me Up, informs the material here. Considering Coleman's rare spotlight, truckload of stockpiled gear (20 instruments, just for himself), and accommodation of fellow instrumentalists and background singers numbering in the dozens (including many L.A. players), Resistance is extraordinarily condensed.

Coleman Hawkins - The Hawk In Paris (1956) {RCA–Bluebird 07863-51059-2 rel 1993}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 212 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 91 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 25 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956, 1993 RCA / Bluebird / BMG | 07863-51059-2
Jazz / Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone

This CD is a major surprise. Hawkins had always wanted to record with a large string section and he received his wish on the majority of these 12 romantic melodies, all of which have some association with Paris. The surprise is that he plays with a great deal of fire (his doubletiming on "My Man" is wondrous), and that Manny Albam's arrangements mostly avoid being muzaky and quite often are creative and witty. What could have been a novelty or an insipid affair is actually one of Coleman Hawkins's more memorable albums.

Tenor great Coleman Hawkins was usually bored with the blues, at least until the period covered by this CD sampler. A master at deciphering complex chord changes, Hawkins found the blues to be overly simple but around 1957 (after 35 years of major league activity) he began to explore the blues more seriously, at least on an occasional basis. This CD has nine performances from as many sessions. The music is consistently excellent (particularly "Juicy Fruit," the lengthy "Blues For Tomorrow" which also features John Coltrane, "Stealin' The Bean" with trumpeter Charlie Shavers and a pair of collaborations with fellow tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis), but it is recommended that listeners (beginners and experts alike) instead acquire the complete sessions, since the blues were only a small aspect of the Coleman Hawkins story.

Coleman Hawkins - Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive! At The Village Gate! (1962) {Verve 513 755-2 rel 1992}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 450 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 171 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 21 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1962, 1992 Verve / PolyGram | 513 755-2
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Hard Bop / Swing / Saxophone / Trumpet

From the mid-'50s until Coleman Hawkins's death in 1969, the tenor-saxophonist frequently teamed up with trumpeter Roy Eldridge to form a potent team. However, Hawkins rarely met altoist Johnny Hodges on the bandstand, making this encounter a special event. Long versions of "Satin Doll," "Perdido" and "The Rabbit in Jazz" give these three classic jazzmen (who are ably assisted by the Tommy Flanagan Trio) chances to stretch out and inspire each other. The remainder of this CD has Eldridge and Hodges absent while Coleman Hawkins (on "new" versions of "Mack the Knife," "It's the Talk of the Town," "Bean and the Boys" and "Caravan") heads the quartet for some excellent playing. Timeless music played by some of the top veteran stylists of the swing era.

On this record (one incidentally that Hawkins, who is his own harshest critic, ranks among his best) we have a group of musicians who complement the master quite successfully. On trumpet is Emmett Berry, a Fletcher Henderson and Count Basie alumnus who has played and recorded with just about anybody you can think of. The trombonist is young Eddie Bert who was a member of such major bands as those of Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton and Red Norvo. On piano, Billy Taylor, a student of a great Art Tatum and a 52nd Street cohort of Hawkins. Tatum, generally acknowledged to be the supreme wizard of the keyboard, has called Taylor "the best young pianist in the country"…

This set documents a historic occasion. Although Coleman Hawkins had been an admirer of Duke Ellington's music for at least 35 years at this point and Ellington had suggested they record together at least 20 years prior to their actual meeting in 1962, this was their first (and only) meeting on record. Although it would have been preferable to hear the great tenor performing with the full orchestra, his meeting with Ellington and an all-star group taken out of the big band does feature such greats as Ray Nance on cornet and violin, trombonist Lawrence Brown, altoist Johnny Hodges, and baritonist Harry Carney. High points include an exuberant "The Jeep Is Jumpin'," an interesting remake of "Mood Indigo," and a few new Ellington pieces. This delightful music is recommended in one form or another.

This CD pulls material together from sessions dating between 1958 and 1962. After fourty years of legend status Hawkins was still inspiring, and being inspired by, younger musicians. Among those supporting the venerable icon are Red Garland, Tommy Flanagan, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ron Carter, and Kenny Burrell. The generally laid back material ranges from standards, tender blues, a couple up-tempo blowing numbers, and an enjoyable nonet piece on "Jammin'in Swingville". While the take on "Greensleeves" seems a bit sappy, this is an entertaining, if unspectacular set of music from Coleman Hawkins. Longtime fans of Bean will be pleased with this cd, and while it is not the best introduction to one of the giants of jazz, it is enjoyable enough to recommend to new listeners because Hawkins' faculties are in check, and he still possesed one of the best sounds of all time.