Artist:Coleman Hawkins
Song:Spotlite
Album:A Retrospective 1929-1963
Coleman Hawkins was a pioneer of the jazz tenor sax and his career spanned several decades and musical styles. He was born Nov. 21, 1904 in St. Joseph, MO. He played professionally in Kansas City at age 12. After a two year stint with blues singer Mamie Smith, he moved to New York in 1923 and became lead tenor sax with Fletcher Henderson. Hawkins learned a lot about phrasing when Louis Armstrong joined the Henderson band in 1924. He remained in Henderson's band until 1934 and moved to Europe and played with guitar legend Django Reinhardt among others. With WWII approaching, Hawkins moved back to the US in 1939. It was at this time that he signed with RCA's Bluebird label and recorded his most famous record Body & Soul. He had various bands at the time including the 52nd St. All Stars that recorded this Hawkins tune Spot Lite. Benny Carter was featured on trumpet. This 2CD comp covers Hawkins' Bluebird recordings over the years and is a good introduction for beginners. Coleman Hawkins adjusted very well to the bebop revolution and continued to make great music into the 1960s. Coleman Hawkins died May 19, 1969 at age 64. There's actually quite a bit of Coleman Hawkins video footage from the 60s but this clip is from the 1945 film The Crimson Canary with Howard McGhee on trumpet, Sir Charles Thompson on piano, Oscar Pettiford on bass and Denzil Best on drums.
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