Hawkins Young

Coleman Hawkins was the first important tenor saxophonist and he remains one of the greatest of all time. A consistently modern improviser whose knowledge of chords and harmonies was encyclopedic, Hawkins had a 40-year prime (1925-1965) during which he could hold his own with any competitor…

Recorded originally for the Prestige subsidiary Moodsville, Coleman Hawkins (along with the Tommy Flanagan Trio) sticks exclusively to ballads and slower pieces, all played at a low flame. Although it is nice to hear the veteran tenor interpreting "Poor Butterfly" and "I'll Get By," this CD is more successful as pleasant background music than as creative jazz.

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"…

Australia's Fiona Joy Hawkins is a pianist, singer, and composer who makes ambient, jazz, and classical-influenced new age recordings. Born in Cessnock, New South Wales, Hawkins took piano lessons from a young age and by her teens was already composing her own music…

Tenor saxophonist Coleman "The Hawk" Hawkins (1904- 1969) was one of the most important instrumental soloists in jazz. The "father of the saxophone" conquered this previously unpopular instrument for jazz and influenced generations after him. He also possessed a strong personality, enormous presence and a pronounced musical adventurousness, so that he always remained stylistically on the cutting edge until the sixties…

Covering in detail a timeline from January 1944 to October 1945, this chapter in the Classics Coleman Hawkins chronology presents recordings he made for the Asch, Selmer, Capitol, Super Disc and V-Disc labels during what was an exciting and transitional period in the evolution of jazz. During the '40s Hawkins was deliberately aligning himself with young and innovative players; four of the sessions feature trumpeter Howard McGhee and pianist Sir Charles Thompson; bassist Oscar Pettiford was also an integral part of Hawk's mid-'40s West Coast band. Lush ballads and upbeat jam structures make for excellent listening throughout…

Coleman Hawkins' 1957 session for Riverside, aside from an oral documentary record in a short-lived series, was his only recording for the label under his name. Yet producer Orrin Keepnews had the good sense to invite the legendary tenor saxophonist to pick his own musicians, and Hawkins surprised him by asking for young boppers J.J. Johnson and Idrees Sulieman in addition to the potent rhythm section of Hank Jones, Oscar Pettiford, Barry Galbraith, and Jo Jones. The two days of sessions produced a number of strong performances, with Hawkins still very much at the top of his game, while both Johnson and Sulieman catch fire as well. Even though most of the focus was on new material contributed by the participants, the musicians quickly adapted to the unfamiliar music…

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…