OT: Coleman Hawkins!

[drthoma...@gmail.com]

Today is the birthday of the incredible Coleman Hawkins, one of my all-
time favorite jazz musicians on any instrument.

I recommend listening to his legendary performance of "The Man I
Love". What a solo.

[Paul Mitchell Brown]

On Nov 21, 2:50 pm, "tombr...@jhu.edu" <drthomasfbr...@gmail.com>
wrote:

And what an introduction! Eddie Heywood's piano solo (almost 2" worth
of hard groove) sounds like nothing else.

[335]

On Nov 20, 9:50 pm, "tombr...@jhu.edu" <drthomasfbr...@gmail.com>
wrote:

The bass solo is cool too. You can hear Oscar Pettiford pause and take
a deep breath after each two measure phrase.

[Keith Freeman]

> I recommend listening to his legendary performance of "The Man I
> Love". What a solo.

Which album and/or year?

-Keith

Clips, Portable Changes, tips etc.: www.keithfreemantrio.nl
e-mail: info AT keithfreemantrio DOT nl

[drthoma...@gmail.com]

I think it's 1955 or 6, found on various albums. Produced by Bob
Thiele IIRC.

[335]

On Nov 23, 1:05 pm, Keith Freeman <x...@x.net> wrote:

I think that version may be on the Ken Burns series Coleman Hawkins CD.

[Paul Mitchell Brown]

The best classic Bob Thiele produced version with Heywood, Pettiford
and Shelly Manne came out in 1943. Thiele ordered the engineer not to
stop the session (it was too long to fit on a standard 5 minute disc
and was later issued on a 12").

[335]

On Nov 24, 1:10 am, Paul Mitchell Brown <paulmitchellbr...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Yes, that's the one on the Burns series Hawkins CD. The recording is 5
minutes and 7 seconds long. The CD cites a record called Classic
Tenors: Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.

[drthoma...@gmail.com]

> Tenors: Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.-

I have that Classic Tenors record on CD. Bean and Pres don't play
together; it's two separate sessions. Kickass stuff....

[335]

On Nov 24, 12:10 pm, "tombr...@jhu.edu" <drthomasfbr...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> together; it's two separate sessions. Kickass stuff....- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Tom, What other Hawkins recordings would you recommend as "must haves"?

[drthoma...@gmail.com]

If you've got the money, there's a 4cd box set which includes Body and
Soul, the Thiele session, and other historically important stuff:
"Coleman Hawkins: The Bebop Years".

That was his peak era. He cut a lot of good stuff later, during his
declining years, when he wasn't quite the terror he was earlier. Some
of his best stuff from that time is as a sideman:

"World on a String" by Red Allen in kind of a Dixieland revival mode
is excellent. "Further Definitions" by Benny Carter is a fabulous,
absolutely essential record. "Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster"
and "Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins" are both worth a listen.

"Further Definitions" would be my personal pick just for listening
pleasure.

[Paul Mitchell Brown]

>
> Tom, What other Hawkins recordings would you recommend as "must haves"?

The Proper box set and the sessions that Tom mentioned are all
worthwhile. However, as the idea of jazz albums was often an arbitrary
concept before the 1950s, you may be best served by searching out
individual tracks. I'd avoid the Ken Burns collection - it offers a
decent overview but the sound on the Hawkins release (and the Pres one
for that matter) is often subpar.

Here are some "must haves":

The Stampede, It's The Talk Of The Town, Honeysuckle Rose and Crazy
Rhythm (featuring Django Reinhardt), Body & Soul (the great 1939
version and perhaps also its later reworking as 'Rainbow Mist'), The
Man I Love (the 1943 version that started this thread), Disorder At
The Border, Flyin' Hawk, Rifftide, Stuffy, I Mean You, Picasso and
Self Portrait (Of The Bean).