COLEMAN HAWKINS
Prestige Profiles, Vol. 4
The material featured on the Coleman Hawkins
issue of Prestige Profiles comes from the start of the final
decade of Hawkins’ long and fruitful recording career.
Most of this material was originally released on one of
Prestige’s imprints, Swingsville or Moodsville. Although
Hawkins was a swing-era player, he was harmonically advanced,
and never ceased to be interested in the music that jazz
modernists were creating throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
This is an incredible fact when one also considers that
Hawkins was one of the first stylists to establish the saxophone
as anything more than a musical sideshow. He, along with
perhaps Ben Webster, established the sound of the saxophone
in the modern jazz ensemble, and he alone catapulted the
music forward harmonically with his interpretation of the
classic “Body and Soul.”
The compilation begins with a strong rendition
of “I’m Beginning to See the Light” from
1960’s Coleman Hawkins All Stars session with Joe
Thomas on trumpet, Vic Dickenson on trombone, Wendell Marshall
on bass, Osie Johnson on drums, and Hawkins’ preferred
pianist, Tommy Flanagan. Thomas and Dickenson both blow
well on this track, but Hawkins’ booming tenor is
definitely the star of the show. Next is a powerful, largely
unadorned version of the folk song “Greensleeves”
with Kenny Burrell on guitar and Ray Bryant at the piano.
Hawkins tackles several 50s jukebox hits on
this collection, including “Since I Fell For You,”
“I Want to Be Loved,” and “Smoke Gets
In Your Eyes.” On “Since I Fell For You”
we get a stellar group performance on a nifty Jerry Valentine
arrangement by a group that includes Pepper Adams (later
of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band) on baritone sax, Jerome
Richardson supplying gorgeous alto work, and Idrees Sulieman
on trumpet. There’s a nice saxophone section chorus
near the end, after Hawkins’ solo. And what a solo!
No one hearing this could easily pigeonhole Bean as a swing
or ‘old time’ player—it’s a very
modern solo, in many ways, for 1959. My only regret is that
Adams didn’t get the chance to blow a solo chorus—bari
sax is a rare treat.
Fans of pianist Flanagan will enjoy this disc
as he’s featured on most of the tracks included here,
and there’s also a nice duet with Eddie “Lockjaw”
Davis on “In A Mellow Tone.” And the closing
rendition of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” is pure
Hawkins in ballad mode, something to be treasured always.
The bonus disc here includes a dazzling array
of the very best swinging modern tenor men coupled with
performances by some of the honking R&B tenor men who
were Hawkins’ contemporaries: Eddie “Lockjaw”
Davis, Arnett Cobb, Benny Carter, Gene Ammons, Illinois
Jacquet, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and Wardell Gray.
