COLEMAN HAWKINS

Coleman Hawkins, known equally by not one but two nicknames, is the fifth saxophonist to be featured in A World of Jazz.  But I may have gotten it wrong; he ought to have been the first.  You see, “Hawk” or “Bean” is the one who started it all for the saxophone.  He is the first Jazz musician to have created the idiom or vocabulary of the tenor sax and to have turned expression on this most important of Jazz instruments into a soloist's art.  In addition, he was the first improviser of note on the tenor sax, just as Louis Armstrong was on the cornet/trumpet.

Coleman Randolph Hawkins was born in November 1904 in Saint Joseph, Missouri.  He first played the piano and then the cello and requested a tenor saxophone when he was eight.  The gift for his ninth birthday was a tenor sax, and when I think about it, he must have been a big boy for nine, since the tenor is not a small instrument.  By age twelve he was performing at school dances, and by fourteen he was playing professionally in and around the Kansas area.

In 1921 he joined Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds, a hit-making touring group.  He arrived in New York, which by then was becoming a Jazz mecca, by 1924.  There he joined Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, where he stayed for ten years.  His big inspiration came from Satchmo.  Before this, he was somewhat pedestrian on his instrument, but hearing and being with Louis, within two years he found his own voice on the sax, thus becoming the big star of the band and attracting worldwide attention.

Hawk was also fiercely competitive, and due to his mastery of his art, he was able to reduce other players to shreds in well-known “cutting” contests.  If truth be told Hawk did lose twice in his career, first to Sidney Bechet (on clarinet), and then to his successor Lester Young (tenor sax).But these isolated incidents were really the exception to the rule.  And rule the tenor saxophone world Hawk did for nearly fifty years.  He was not a tireless innovator like Miles or Trane, but he could not be beat on improvising, and he had an excellent ear as well as the ability to change with the times in order to stay on top of the game.  He also liked to surround himself with innovative younger musicians.  As a result, as Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler tell us, his playing continued to evolve until the final years of his life.

In 1934 Hawk, preferring to go solo, left Henderson's Orchestra to go on a tour of England.  He, however, ended up remaining in Europe for five years.  There was much appreciation for Jazz in Europe, along with which came respect and adulation.  Hawk took full advantage.  He lived the good life, and performed and recorded with many bands, most notably the group of gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and fellow American Benny Carter (alto sax).  It must be said, though, that Hawk did not fully escape racism in Europe.  He was refused entry to Hitler's Germany on racial grounds, so in France and Holland they were able to hear more of him.

In 1939 he returned to the United States.  So much was he missed (actually the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra was never the same after Hawk left) that one night in Chicago just after his return, Henderson was on the bandstand playing.  Hawk tells us:  “He knew I was in the audience and sent a waiter with a note saying, “Don't you think it's about time the leave of absence is over?”  Hawk didn't return to Henderson's band, but within weeks, on October 11th, 1939 to be exact, he recorded the most famous single selection of his career, an almost fully improvised version of “Body and Soul,” which is and has remained one of the definitive Jazz solos.  With its sophisticated improvisation, “Body and Soul” struck a chord with the listening public.  It was a huge commercial success, establishing Hawk as the master of the tenor.  Readers of “Downbeat” magazine voted him the best for that year.

Hawk also quickly re-established his supremacy on the club scene at Kelly's Stables on 52nd Street in NYC, and as soon as the be-bop revolution arrived, his embrace of it was swift and confident.  He loved the new harmonic challenge, leading the first ever be-bop recording session with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach in 1943.  He played also with Thelonious Monk and with Lester Young (whose idol he was), as well as touring with impresario Norman Granz's Jazz At the Philharmonic.

Hawk's solo career never did decline, and even when young Turks like Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Zoot Sims ascended, there was still no doubt that Hawk was “still the finest exponent of his instrument,” as Carr, Fairweather and Priestley tell us in “Jazz – The Rough Guide.”  His sound on the tenor could be subtle and gliding, but it was also often muscular and gruff.   His huge, all-encompassing sound became and remained an inspiration for swing and be-bop musicians alike.  Those who were influenced tremendously by him include Herschel Evans, Chu Berry, Don Byas, Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb, Lucky Thompson, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins.

In his later years, Hawk spent his time between Europe and the U.S. and played with other greats like Roy Eldridge and Duke Ellington.  By the mid 1960's, though, he began to drink heavily.  The Rough Guide says that his permanent diet was lentil soup and brandy.  Yet he could “summon remarkable performances when promoters even despaired of getting him on stage.” His health, however, continued to decline, and he passed away in 1969 at age 64.

When I consider that, before him, no one had ever done on the tenor sax what Hawk did, his music seems all the more amazing.  Lester Young, who was dubbed “Pres,” made it clear that the first President was really Coleman Hawkins.

In terms of the music, I look first at a compilation of 1939 to 1956 recordings on the RCA Bluebird label called (of course) “Body and Soul.”  As stated before, the recording of the title track was a major event in Jazz history.  Its duration is only three minutes and it has just two choruses, but with its subtle changes, graceful, swooping improvisations and flawless delivery it became an instant classic.  And due to its exploration of harmonies and cutting edge sound it is considered by many to be the next step in the evolution of Jazz masterpieces.  It picks up, it is believed, where Louis Armstong's “West End Blues” left off.  This is one of those pieces that I truly never get tired of.   A Jazz 101 course would have to include listening to “Body and Soul.”  And this would have to be the best homework imaginable.

From the same CD I recommend as well “The Sheik of Araby,”  “Bouncing with Bean,” “Half Step Down, Please” and “I Love You.” The last mentioned is a ballad that displays Hawk's mature and lyrical style in all its magnificence. It's difficult to describe, but I would love to sit and play this one on the stereo or radio for aficionados, students and curiosity seekers just wanting to hear a virtuoso in action.

There is a celebrated Hawk recording that I am not familiar with, but this essay would be incomplete without mentioning it.  It is the classic, unaccompanied selection called “Picasso.” You live, and you learn, so this one is on my list to experience.  John Fordham says that it is “remarkable even by the high technical standards of bop and a truly avant-garde performance for the period.”

In 1957 there was the happy coming together of Hawk with Ben Webster, the tenor saxophonist of Duke Ellington Orchestra fame!  My choices from this indispensible session of two tenor titans are “ It Never Entered My Mind” and “La Rosita,” with the rhythm section of Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass and Alvin Stoller on drums.  Even cursory listening reveals the difference in tone and style, and it's a joy hearing them play on the same recording.

In 1963 Hawk was Sonny Rollins' guest for the taping of such standards as “All The Things You Are,”  “Yesterdays” and “Summertime.”  Once again we can readily distinguish between the two, the younger Rollins was more straight-ahead and forceful, while Hawk brought the trills and smooth sophistication to their interpretations.

The Bossa Nova craze hit the United States in the late 1950's and early 1960's.  The recording in 1963 of “The Girl From Ipanema” by Stan Getz, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto brought the style to its peak of popularity, and the selection has remained extremely popular ever since.  I    emphasize this context here so as to say that Hawk was not to be left behind at all!  Even before the famous “Girl From Ipanema,” Hawk and his sextet recorded “Desafinado – Coleman Hawkins Plays Bossa Nova and Jazz Samba” in September 1962.  Reviewers Richard Cooke and Brian Morton call the set somewhat disappointing and just easy listening.  I heartily disagree.  I think the reviewers are showing some British superciliousness in their assessment.  Hawk's Bossa Nova album is fine as far as I am concerned, with great playing by Hawk and solid backup by his rhythm section.  My favorites are “Samba Para Bean” and “Un Abraco No Bonfa.”  I am reminded of the name of an album by Orchestra Baobab of Senegal - “Specialist in All Styles.”   Hawk/Bean was a veritable specialist in all styles!

Lastly I feature another 1960's production which the same reviewers dumped on, “Wrapped Tight.”  Here, too, I believe that the Brits didn't get it right.   In this 1965 recording Hawk's group go great guns behind him, Hawk being in as good a form as ever.  “Red Roses for A Blue Lady,” “Bean's Place” and “Out Of Nowhere” are my picks for favorite.

As mentioned above, it was Lester Young who remarked about Coleman Hawkins:  “He's the person who played the tenor saxophone, who woke you up and let you know there was a tenor saxophone.”   For close to five decades Hawk was an awe inspiring figure to young tenor sax players, and he could be intimidating.  On one occasion, an un-named tenor “youngster” shared the stage with Hawk for a jam session.  When he had the chance to step aside for a short while, he reportedly said to an older colleague “He scares me, man!”  The answer he got was “He's supposed to scare you. That's what he's there for.”

Yes, Jazz fans – Coleman Hawkins pioneered the tenor saxophone, and along with it some beautiful music, and he set the stage for so many others.  He also left a large catalogue of recordings that players still try to emulate and listeners still marvel at.  Put him, please, on your “must hear” list.