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Coleman Hawkins

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Wikimp3 information about the music of Coleman Hawkins. On our website we have 70 albums and 70 collections of artist Coleman Hawkins. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Coleman Hawkins represents Jazz genres.

Biography

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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.

Coleman Hawkins started piano lessons when he was five, switched to cello at age seven, and two years later began on tenor. At a time when the saxophone was considered a novelty instrument, used in vaudeville and as a poor substitute for the trombone in marching bands, Hawkins sought to develop his own sound. A professional when he was 12, Hawkins was playing in a Kansas City theater pit band in 1921, when Mamie Smith hired him to play with her Jazz Hounds. Hawkins was with the blues singer until June 1923, making many records in a background role and he was occasionally heard on instrumentals. After leaving Smith, he freelanced around New York, played briefly with Wilbur Sweatman, and in August 1923 made his first recordings with Fletcher Henderson. When Henderson formed a permanent orchestra in January 1924, Hawkins was his star tenor.

Although (due largely to lack of competition) Coleman Hawkins was the top tenor in jazz in 1924, his staccato runs and use of slap-tonguing sound quite dated today. However, after Louis Armstrong joined Henderson later in the year, Hawkins learned from the cornetist's relaxed legato style and advanced quickly. By 1925, Hawkins was truly a major soloist, and the following year his solo on "Stampede" became influential. Hawk (who doubled in early years on clarinet and bass sax) would be with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra up to 1934, and during this time he was the obvious pacesetter among tenors; Bud Freeman was about the only tenor who did not sound like a close relative of the hard-toned Hawkins. In addition to his solos with Henderson, Hawkins backed some blues singers, recorded with McKinney's Cotton Pickers, and, with Red McKenzie in 1929, he cut his first classic ballad statement on "One Hour."

By 1934, Coleman Hawkins had tired of the struggling Fletcher Henderson Orchestra and he moved to Europe, spending five years (1934-1939) overseas. He played at first with Jack Hylton's Orchestra in England, and then freelanced throughout the continent. His most famous recording from this period was a 1937 date with Benny Carter, Alix Combille, Andre Ekyan, Django Reinhardt, and Stephane Grappelli that resulted in classic renditions of "Crazy Rhythm" and "Honeysuckle Rose." With World War II coming close, Hawkins returned to the U.S. in 1939. Although Lester Young had emerged with a totally new style on tenor, Hawkins showed that he was still a dominant force by winning a few heated jam sessions. His recording of "Body and Soul" that year became his most famous record. In 1940, he led a big band that failed to catch on, so Hawkins broke it up and became a fixture on 52nd Street. Some of his finest recordings were cut during the first half of the 1940s, including a stunning quartet version of "The Man I Love." Although he was already a 20-year veteran, Hawkins encouraged the younger bop-oriented musicians and did not need to adjust his harmonically advanced style in order to play with them. He used Thelonious Monk in his 1944 quartet; led the first official bop record session (which included Dizzy Gillespie and Don Byas); had Oscar Pettiford, Miles Davis, and Max Roach as sidemen early in their careers; toured in California with a sextet featuring Howard McGhee; and in 1946, utilized J.J. Johnson and Fats Navarro on record dates. Hawkins toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic several times during 1946-1950, visited Europe on a few occasions, and in 1948 recorded the first unaccompanied saxophone solo, "Picasso."

By the early '50s, the Lester Young-influenced Four Brothers sound had become a much greater influence on young tenors than Hawkins' style, and he was considered by some to be out of fashion. However, Hawkins kept on working and occasionally recording, and by the mid-'50s was experiencing a renaissance. The up-and-coming Sonny Rollins considered Hawkins his main influence, Hawk started teaming up regularly with Roy Eldridge in an exciting quintet (their appearance at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival was notable), and he proved to still be in his prime. Coleman Hawkins appeared in a wide variety of settings, from Red Allen's heated Dixieland band at the Metropole and leading a bop date featuring Idrees Sulieman and J.J. Johnson, to guest appearances on records that included Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and (in the early '60s) Max Roach and Eric Dolphy. During the first half of the 1960s, Coleman Hawkins had an opportunity to record with Duke Ellington, collaborated on one somewhat eccentric session with Sonny Rollins, and even did a bossa nova album. By 1965, Hawkins was even showing the influence of John Coltrane in his explorative flights and seemed ageless.

Unfortunately, 1965 was Coleman Hawkins' last good year. Whether it was senility or frustration, Hawkins began to lose interest in life. He practically quit eating, increased his drinking, and quickly wasted away. Other than a surprisingly effective appearance with Jazz at the Philharmonic in early 1969, very little of Hawkins' work during his final three and a half years (a period during which he largely stopped recording) is up to the level one would expect from the great master. However, there are dozens of superb Coleman Hawkins recordings currently available and, as Eddie Jefferson said in his vocalese version of "Body and Soul," "he was the king of the saxophone."

Title: Carioca

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Devotion

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: A Funny Couple

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: A Happy Easter

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Chicago

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Desafinado

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz, Latin

Title: Easy Rider

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Blues, Jazz, Bop

Title: Endless Sky

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Hawk's Perch

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Headman

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Indian Summer

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz, Bop

Title: Jazz Tones

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Recollctions

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Smooth Night

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: The Essence

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Time To Relaxe

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: To Infinity

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Train Sounds

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Waterfall

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: In Memoriam….

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Good Old Broadway

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz, Bop

Title: Blue Jeans

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: Golden Days

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Title: A Touch of France

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz, Pop

Title: One By One

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genre: Jazz

Collections

Title: Jazz Club Specials

Genre: Jazz

Title: Jazz Deluxe

Genre: Jazz

Title: Swing Highlights

Genre: Jazz

Title: Jazz District Bebop

Genre: Jazz

Title: Jazz World Vol. 26

Genre: Jazz

Title: Cannes 1958

Genre: Jazz, Vocal Jazz

Title: Summer Night Jazz

Genre: Jazz

Featuring albums

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Artist: Charlie Parker

Genre: Jazz, Bop

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Artist: Oscar Peterson

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Title: The Art of the Saxophone

Artist: Al Cohn

Genre: Jazz, Bop

Title: Greatest Hits

Artist: Lionel Hampton

Genre: Jazz

Title: Ben Webster & Friends

Artist: Ben Webster

Genre: Jazz, Pop

Title: Jazz 'Round Midnight

Artist: Ben Webster

Genre: Jazz

Genres