Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Some of the coolest sounds around, 2000-05-28
This is a wonderful album of jazz by one of the great tenor saxophonists, Coleman Hawkins. Every note is played with feeling, tenderness and great skill. There's not a weak track on this album; each one is a carefully crafted piece of musicianship. At full price this would be highly recommended - at bargain price it more or less becomes an automatic choice. Coleman Hawkins should definitely be better known, and this album is a marvellous place to become acquainted with him and his music.

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

There is a slight problem with the title Coleman Hawkins, the Bebop Years: this long look at Hawkins begins in October 1939, only reaching anything identifiable as the bebop years (Monk's debut on record, as Hawk's sideman, in October 1944) towards the end of disc 3. Looking beyond the vagaries of titling (and the budget price of these proper boxed sets helps one to look further), this is a well-chosen series of snapshots of a tenor giant moving from his absolute pomp ("Body and Soul", 1939) through years of consistently high achievement (early 40s) into the challenge of bop (on the fourth disc are four tracks of the wonderful 1945 sextet featuring Howard McGhee and Oscar Pettiford, plus the Hawkins all-star session with Miles and Max Roach) and finally back to Europe for a post-war reunion of sorts. Hawkins was fiercely competitive, even with old friends like Webster and Eldridge, so there is no slacking off of effort from the frontman. Additionally, one of the most notable developments traced here is a new and uncluttered rhythmic ease. He chose his phrases more carefully, went for contrast and drama with great precision and became the more telling soloist for it. T...
Great Hawkins collection, 2004-03-03
While most of the music on this 4-CD set doesn't have a lot to do with bebob, as far as I'm concerned it is still the best Coleman Hawkins collection available. It's expertly put together by Proper Records, complete with a very informative and interesting booklet. All his best recordings from the 40's are here, and it's a joy to listen to from start to finish. 5 stars for the music of course, but also for presentation and packaging. If only all jazz reissues had been as professionally put together as this one!

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Brilliant, 2010-03-01
I am a massive fan of good old jazz, rather more so than more newer stuff. When I got this I was beaming all over. Hawkins, or more popularly known as Hawk is a legend, and although he could play more than one instrument it is the tenor saxophone that he is best known for. Arguably this was the man who brought the sax to the forefront of jazz. Indeed when you think of jazz the sax is the first thing that comes to mind.

In his lifetime he played with his own bands, as well as some of the really big names. He played New Orleans jazz along with other styles and as this album showcases, he was a consummate player. A big name in jazz and in the development of this music he is definitely someone that anyone in to jazz should listen to.

The recordings on this cd are taken from 1933-1949 and despite the age of these original recordings the sound transfer is fantastic. This is a must have album for your jazz collection.

Artist: Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster

Two real giants, 2008-06-01

Some might say (including historians, musical producers and liner notes writers) that Hawkins was much better than Webster, that only Young could equall his power with his unique approach. Even if this is true, the level at which Hawk and Webster play is so high that I see the meeting of two true giants.

Impecable rhythm section led by great Oscar Peterson always helps at these Verve style encounters and I feel that both tenor plays made the best of it.

Whether it is gentle ballads, blowing the blues or harmonizing in rhythm, this CD should satisfy not only swing and mainstream fans but also modern jazz fans: mainstream by definition leans somewhat towards modern jazz and Hawk and Peterson particularly well blend the best of both worlds (as they did throught their careers; Hawkins even before modern jazz was born).

A classic.

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

It's classic alright!, 2009-09-21
Containing the complete studio sessions of Henry "Red" Allen and Coleman Hawkins from the 50s, this double CD is essential for classic jazz fans...
The first CD has the glorious "Ride Red Ride in Hi Fi" album sessions, with some of the FINEST jazz trumpet I've ever heard (yes, at his best, Allen is comparable to Satch, Dizzy, Miles or Brownie) and the rest of the band is also great: Hawkins probably has recordings of higher merit, but he is good to say the least,
with J.C.Higginbotham and other strong swingers....

The second CD is just a bit weaker; the two LPs (Warhorses/Dixieland jamfest, Sweet moods of jazz/High standards) are a tad over arranged, but the bands are also good and swinging, particularly the one with Earl Warren (mostly)on clarinet...

And, yes, the second CD has the recording studio versions of famous two performances for "Sound of jazz" telecast; with Pee Wee Russel, Rex Stewart...

ESSENTIAL jazz.

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Very enjoyable, 2009-12-17
The Genius of Coleman Hawkins is one of those albums that makes you feel good; leaves you with a smile and warm glow inside. It's generally undemanding, in a way that jazz so often isn't, but I mean that in a good way. You can enjoy this for what it is - a relaxed session between Hawkins and Oscar Peterson and his trio, which represents an aspect of jazz that feels like it's from another time.

There are, perhaps, a few too many slow numbers which gives the album an overall bias towards ballads, but depending on your mood, that's probably not a bad thing. The discreet but swinging accompaniment from Peterson and friends reminds the listener once again of the huge talents Oscar Peterson had not just as a solo artist, but also as a sensitive sideman, willing to let the star shine when the occasion demanded. Hawkins sounds on fine form, his characteristic yakety sax vibrato on display perhaps a little too often, but generally it all works well.

The Verve Master Editions releases of their jazz classics are something of a mixed blessing. On the plus side, you get detailed liner notes and decent sound quality from the re-mastering; the downside - too much repeat or out-take material that detracts from the sense of mood and occasion from the original recordings. A few extra tracks here - and some mono takes of stereo material -really don't add that much to a mix that's enjoyable enough to stand on its own. Nevertheless, a fine album.

Artist: Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins

Now at last I know: This is the best of Duke's encounters, 2010-05-18
The original Impulse gatefold has long been one of the most treasured of my records, if alone for the grand names and the business-as-usual simple beauty of the black-orange Impulse records. I would have appreciated a more condign digipak, that means not this fingerprints attracting glossy but a matte one. You will soon find out why, this will most likely be one of the CDs that may leave the tray of your player unopened for days. Why?
It's music, well, you can't really say it has been overlooked, a more fitting term would be "taken for granted". Maybe the lineup was just too inconspicious, the titles modestly unspectacular to gain attention at a time when jazz was going rather clamorous. The writer of these lines himself has for years listened more intensely to the Dukè's encounters with Roach/Mingus and Coltrane. Though the results of these collaborations are often sublime (the latter) or rewarding (the former), the albums have a certain unevenness, which only enhances their appeal among more audacious listeners, no doubt.

This record though is the most consistent yet creative of all musical encounters Ellington had with other greats in 1961/2, including Basie and Armstrong.

I guess the real benefactor of the musical success is the small group formula, which Ellington's producers had regrettably neglected since the early forties. In a way, the nine titles on this disc renew the great recordings under the nominal leadership of Duke's sidemen of the late thirties/early forties, which produced not a few hits and standards (Jeep's Blues, Caravan, Hodge Podge, ...). On first listening to this album years ago, I was somewhat disappointed, as I had envisioned the Mighty Hawk in the role of the virtuoso playing mostly challenging and new Ellington material, of the likes of say Paul Gonsalves's towering "Mount Harissa" concerto. But in fact, that's exactly what the music to be heard in here does:
"Mood Indigo" shows Bean at his rhapsodic best and the incredible string of ideas he pulls out of his horn leaves no doubt where his nickname derives from, this solo ranks among his most famous ones.
"Self Portrait of the Bean" has its opening theme built on Strayhorn's "Snibor", though some go for "Grievin'", which I can't agree on. The theme is not entirely new thus, but it's the imposing bridge that's genuinely Ellington, really one of a kind, rendered by Hawkins so seam- and effortlessly that you would vouch for his knowing the chords of the piece in and out, yet it was presented to him just prior to recording in the studio.
Voilà comment le grand jazz est fait.
Instead of going on and on, like the spinning disc in your player, I will end this rant by adding another strong incentive: The album closes with a gorgeous "Solitude", which has finally been given its due place.