Everything about Coleman Hawkins totally explained
Coleman Randolph Hawkins (
November 21 1904–
May 19 1969),
nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was a prominent
jazz tenor saxophonist.
He is commonly regarded as the first important and influential jazz musician to use the instrument: Joachim E. Berendt wrote, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument wasn't an acknowledged jazz horn".
While Hawkins is most strongly associated with the
swing music and
big band era, he began playing professionally in the early 1920s and was important in the development of
bebop in the 1940s. He continued to be influenced by the avant-garde jazz of the 1950s and '60s.
Life and career
Early life and the Swing era
Hawkins was born in
Saint Joseph, Missouri in 1904. Some out-of-date sources say 1901, but there's no evidence to prove such an early date. He was named Coleman after his mother Cordelia's maiden name.
He attended high school in
Chicago, then in
Topeka, Kansas at
Topeka High School. He later stated that he studied harmony and composition for two years at
Washburn College in Topeka while still attending THS. In his youth he played
piano and
cello, and started playing saxophone at the age of nine; by the age of fourteen he was playing around eastern Kansas.
Hawkins joined
Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds in 1921 with whom he toured through 1923, at which time he settled in
New York City. Hawkins joined
Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, with whom he played through 1934, sometimes doubling on
clarinet and
bass saxophone. Hawkins' playing changed significantly during
Louis Armstrong's tenure with the Henderson Orchestra.
In 1934 Hawkins accepted an invitation to play with
Jack Hylton's band in London. During the mid to late 1930s Hawkins toured
Europe as a soloist, memorably working with
Django Reinhardt and
Benny Carter in Paris in 1937, and many other groups until returning to the
USA in 1939. In that same year he recorded a seminal jazz solo on the pop standard "
Body and Soul", a landmark recording of the Swing Era. It is unique in that virtually the entire recording is improvised - only in the first 4 bars is the melody stated in a recognizable fashion. It is considered by many to be the next evolutionary step in jazz recording from where Louis Armstrong's "
West End Blues" in 1928 left off.
The Bebop era
After an unsuccessful attempt to establish a
big band he led a combo at
Kelly's Stables on
Manhattan's famed
52nd Street with
Thelonious Monk,
Oscar Pettiford,
Miles Davis, and
Max Roach as sidemen. He was leader on the first ever
bebop recording session with
Dizzy Gillespie and
Max Roach in 1943. Later he toured with
Howard McGhee and recorded with
J. J. Johnson and
Fats Navarro. He also toured with
Jazz at the Philharmonic.
In 1948 Hawkins recorded
Picasso, an influential piece for unaccompanied saxophone.
After 1948 Hawkins divided his time between New York and Europe, making numerous freelance recordings. In the 1960s he appeared regularly at the
Village Vanguard in
Manhattan.
During his long career Hawkins was always inventive and seeking new challenges. He directly influenced many
bebop performers, and later in his career, recorded or performed with such adventurous musicians as
Sonny Rollins, who considered him his main influence, and
John Coltrane. He appears on the
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Riverside) record. In 1960 he recorded on Max Roach's
We Insist! - Freedom Now suite.
Later life
He also performed with more traditional musicians, such as
Henry "Red" Allen and
Roy Eldridge, with whom he appeared at the 1957
Newport Jazz Festival, and recorded
Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster with fellow
tenor saxophonist Ben Webster on
December 16,
1957, along with
Oscar Peterson (piano),
Herb Ellis (guitar),
Ray Brown (bass), and
Alvin Stoller (drums). In the 1960s, he recorded with
Duke Ellington.
What was up to date in jazz changed radically over the decades. When record collectors would play his early 1920s recordings during Hawkins' later years he'd sometimes deny his presence on them, since the playing on the old records sounded so dated.
In his later years, Hawkins began to drink heavily and stopped recording (his last recording was in late 1966). He died of
pneumonia in 1969 and is interred at the
Woodlawn Cemetery in the
Bronx. A biography of Hawkins,
The Song of the Hawk (1990), was written by British jazz historian
John Chilton.
Discography
Quotation
"As far as I'm concerned, I think Coleman Hawkins was the President first, right? As far as myself, I think I'm the second one." Tenorman Lester Young, who was called "Pres", 1959 interview with Jazz Review.
"When I heard Hawk I learned to play ballads." Miles Davis.
Get more info on 'Coleman Hawkins'.
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