Remembering Coleman Hawkins

Billie Holiday (1915-1959) and Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969)

Jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins had an absolutely unbelievable gift. Lester Young said, "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." Miles: "When I heard Hawk I learned to play ballads." But you don't hear this pre-bebop sound much these days. And there is nothing as smooth, as pensive, as inventive. It sounds incredibly simple. It isn't. Oh what we're missing:



I wish there were more of this. I wish I could hear this on the radio sometime.