The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz (59 page)

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Authors: Tom Piazza

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(Blue Note 84225) present Coleman in a trio setting with bassist David Izenzon and drummer Charles Moffett. Coleman's alto is given the freest rein possible here, and the results are a feast for anyone who likes the way he plays. The somewhat later
New York Is Now!
(Blue Note 84287) has Ornette paired with tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, a good foil for him, and Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones, a team in John Coltrane's famous quartet, on bass and drums, respectively. This is a freewheeling and enjoyable set that includes the humorous riff "Broad Way Blues" and the very humorous "We Now Interrupt for a Commercial." Finally, the 1987
In All Languages
(Caravan of Dreams CDP 85008) features an interesting contrast between his original quartet (with Cherry, Haden, and Higgins reunited) and his electric band, Prime Time (with two drummers, two bassists, and two guitarists). The quartet has ten tracks to itself, and Prime Time gets thirteen; certain tunes are performed once by each band, for a very revealing contrast. The quartet is as coherent and musical as ever, although none of its selections runs over four minutes. Prime Time, on the other hand, sounds kind of lumpy and confused, as if the various instruments are working at harmonic and rhythmic cross-purposes; it is hard to focus on Coleman in the middle of it all. But the quartet tracks are compact, elegant statements, albeit no match for the earlier masterpieces.
 
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Tenors
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins was the first musician to play jazz successfully on the tenor saxophone, which had been used mainly as a novelty instrument in popular music up until his arrival. His career ranged from the early 1920s to his death in 1969, and he was active in the serious work being done in all eras, playing with everyone from blues singer Mamie Smith to Thelonious Monk.
Hawk, or Bean, as he was called, defined the style of the tenor saxophone for the 1920s and most of the 1930s, until Lester Young began to make his presence felt. His sound was heavy, very throaty and bearlike, with a big vibrato. It was authoritative and instantly identifiable. At faster tempos, especially as his career went on, his swing was irresistible, his accents usually falling on the beat; at ballad tempos, his ideas were sensuous, and his sound opened into a wide, rhapsodic vibrato. Hawkins never stopped developing and experimenting; he was a dynamic force in the music and encouraged many younger musicians throughout his career.
The Stampede
The earliest Hawkins solos on record are to be found on recordings he made with the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, the preeminent big jazz orchestra of the 1920s. His early solos, on tunes such as "Dicty Blues" (available on
A Study in Frustration: The Fletcher Henderson Story
[Columbia/Legacy C3
K 57596]),
 
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tend to sound stiff; Hawkins didn't really find his style until after Louis Armstrong had joined the Henderson band in 1924 and showed everyone how to construct a solo that swung and made sense.
Hawkins learned quickly and well. In 1926 the Henderson band recorded a Don Redman arrangement of "The Stampede" (also available on the Columbia/Legacy set), which features Hawkins at length. His phrasing has smoothed out, and he bursts with ideas;
the
solo established Hawkins as the influence on the instrument. Hawkins recorded innumerable excellent solos with Henderson right up until his departure in 1934; some of the best can be found on
Fletcher Henderson and the Dixie Stompers 1925-1928
(DRG SW 8445/6), especially the rip-roaring "I'm Feelin' Devilish" and ''Goose Pimples." More good Hawkins with Henderson may be found on a collection of 1931 titles called
Fletcher Henderson: The Crown King of Swing
(Savoy SJL 1152) and on
Hocus Pocus: Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra 1927-1936
(RCA/Bluebird 9904-2-RB). On this latter set, listen especially to Hawk's solo on the title tune, recorded in 1934, a masterpiece of blues-inflected playing. An alternate take of this can be found on
Coleman Hawkins-Ben Webster-Benny Carter: Three Great Swing Saxophones
(RCA/Bluebird 9683-2-RB); it is just as good as the one on Hocus Pocus and a fascinating contrast. The two Bluebird sets also contain alternate takes of a 1931 recording of "Sugar Foot Stomp" (Henderson's reworking of King Oliver's "Dippermouth Blues"), with roaring solos from Hawkins. Both solos begin with the same phrase; overall, the solo on the take on
Hocus Pocus
is superior - listen to the energy with which he tears into the second chorus of this up-tempo blues.
Toward the end of the 1920s, Hawkins was developing his own florid ballad style, full of a romantic, heavy vibrato. One of the earliest examples of his ballad playing is his solo on "One Hour," recorded with a small recording group called the Mound City Blue Blowers, assembled by singer Red McKenzie. Available on
Three Great Swing Saxophones
, the tune shows Hawkins creating an entirely new set of melodies based on the harmonies of the song rather than on its melody. At its best this approach resulted in lyric masterpieces such as "It's the Talk of the Town," recorded with Henderson in 1933 and available on
Ridin' in Rhythm
(DRG/Swing CDSW 8453/4). At its worst it sounded turgid and choked; his tendency to ornament the melodic line with arpeggios, glissandos, and grace notes could clutter up any feeling of continuity. "The Day You Came Along" (also on
Ridin' in Rhythm
) is an example of this approach applied unsuccessfully. Throughout the 1930s he smoothed out his ballad playing until, although he always played many notes, none of them was wasted, resulting in the 1939 masterpiece most identified with him, "Body and Soul."
Hawkins was in demand as a guest star in the recording studios, as well as
 
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with Henderson. "One Hour" is an example of this kind of activity, as is "Hello Lola," recorded at the same session and included on
Three Great Swing Saxophones
. ''Hello Lola" contains a ferocious Hawkins solo, in which he plays his notes staccato, swinging heavily and accenting almost invariably on the down beat. Other examples of this approach are "Wherever There's a Will, Baby," with McKinney's Cotton Pickers (available on the same set), and "Jamaica Shout," recorded under Hawkins's own leadership in 1933 (available on
Ridin' in Rhythm
).
The combination of staccato phrasing and down-beat accenting made for a very heavy, insistent swing beat, characteristic of jazz before musicians (with the exception of Louis Armstrong) had really learned how to use the four beats per measure in a smoother way. You can hear Hawkins working this out himself if you compare his solo on "Jamaica Shout" with his performance of "Lady, Be Good" from a year later, also included on
Ridin' in Rhythm
. Over a chugging mid-tempo swing approximately the same as that of the earlier number, Hawkins's lines on "Lady, Be Good" are more legato and more evenly swinging, and he is learning to use the one-two-three-four beat not just as something to hammer home but as a set of expectations to alternately fulfill and subvert. By the time he recorded "Crazy Rhythm" with Benny Carter and Django Reinhardt in Paris in 1937, he would be one of the great masters of this.
"Jamaica Shout," "The Day You Came Along," and the beautiful "Heartbreak Blues" are also available on a fine set entitled
Henry "Red" Allen and Coleman Hawkins 1933
(Smithsonian Collection R022), along with a number of sides recorded by a cooperative band under the joint leadership of Hawkins and Allen, a New Orleans trumpeter who was one of the greatest disciples of Louis Armstrong.
Ridin' in Rhythm
is a treasure trove of mid-1930s Hawkins, containing, in addition to the titles mentioned earlier, a series of recordings with a big band under the direction of Fletcher Henderson's brother Horace, two duets with pianist Buck Washington, and a number of records made during Hawkins's long mid-1930s residence in Europe, including some fine duets with pianist Stanley Black and two sides with the English dance orchestra of Jack Hylton. The latter two are interesting because, despite a very contemporary, slick, big-band ensemble sound, the rhythm section hasn't learned to swing yet. Hawk sounds unfazed and swings in fine fettle.
The best recordings Hawkins made in Europe, however, are the previously mentioned sides with Benny Carter and Django Reinhardt, available as
Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter in Paris
(DRG/Swing CDSW 8403; also on
Djangologie/USA, Volume 1
[DRG/Swing CDSW 8421/3]). Set off by gorgeous writing for saxophones by Benny Carter (the two are joined by French altoist
 
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Andre Ekyan and tenorist Alix Combelle, to form a fine sax section), Hawk plays a fantastic solo on "Honeysuckle Rose," totally in command of his now-ripe legato swing style, using the accents of the background to create patterns of expectation, suspense, and release. "Crazy Rhythm" is even better, an up-tempo romp in which he enters his solo with a short phrase announcing himself, then hammers on a riff, which he shortens, then extends, then tears away from. The head of steam he builds up makes for one of the most exciting recorded solos in jazz.
As if that weren't enough, Hawkins plays a classic ballad solo on "Out of Nowhere," without any of the arhythmic, cluttered arpeggios of a few years before. He learned how to dovetail phrases, answering himself, in effect, as he plays - playing a phrase, then echoing it with the next in such a way as to lead him into a new line of thought, each sentence, as it were, coming out of the one before it, a technique learned from Armstrong. Almost as an afterthought, there is a loose, jammed version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" to round out the set.
Body and Soul
By the time Hawkins returned to the United States he had spawned a school of followers, including such strong individualists as Chu Berry and Ben Webster. A very different approach to the tenor sax and to swinging had been opened by Lester Young. But Hawkins was at the height of his powers, and Young's influence was not to be pervasive for another couple of years.
Hawkins appeared on one of Lionel Hampton's most famous all-star dates in 1939, recording "Early Session Hop," "When Lights Are Low," and "Hot Mallets" in the company of his two greatest disciples, Berry and Webster. The tunes are available on
Hot Mallets, Volume 1
(RCA/Bluebird 6458-2-RB) and are interesting also for the presence of the young Dizzy Gillespie.
His popularity was such that he was able to lead a big band for a while, and in 1939 he recorded his most famous side, "Body and Soul." At a slow tempo, after a four-bar piano intro, Hawkins slides into the harmonies of the song, using only the briefest reference to its melody, and, turning up the flame slowly, he spins out a three-minute improvisation that has proved to be one of the most enduring of all jazz masterpieces. It is available on
Body and Soul
(RCA/Bluebird 5717-2-RB), accompanied by an armada of other notable early-1940s tracks, as well as some 1950s material with an orchestra. Particularly enjoyable here are four small-group sides recorded in 1940 with the trombonist J. C. Higginbotham which have a loose, jammed feeling to them and on which Hawkins really stretches out. His solo on "The Sheik of Araby" could almost define the classic swing tenor feel.
 
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Throughout the 1940s Hawkins was a dominant figure in the music. Two highly recommended sets document his activities during the years of World War II:
Coleman Hawkins/Lester Young - Classic Tenors
(Signature/CBS AK 38446) and a monumental four-disc set called
The Complete Coleman Hawkins on Keynote
(Mercury 830 960-2).
Classic Tenors
contains at least two sides that are Hawkins landmarks, versions of "The Man I Love" and "Sweet Lorraine," recorded in 1943 with Oscar Pettiford on bass. Both tunes were released originally on 12-inch 78-rpm records rather than the standard 10-inch; the larger format allowed for more playing time, and these records are extended explorations of the harmonies of two great pop tunes. On both, Hawkins paces himself carefully, unleashing more and more imagination and passion as the performances go on. Listen, on "The Man I Love," to Oscar Pettiford breathing between the phrases of his bass solo as if he were a horn player. ''Get Happy" and "Crazy Rhythm," from the same session, are also excellent, and there are several other good Hawk tracks included here, along with four beautiful Lester Young sides.
The Complete Coleman Hawkins on Keynote
contains the results of eight 1944 sessions for the small Keynote label, including multiple takes of many items. The sessions find Hawkins in various settings, with trumpeters Buck Clayton, Charlie Shavers, Joe Thomas, and Roy Eldridge, one of Hawk's favorite musical companions. The tracks with Eldridge here, especially the "How High the Moon"-derived "Bean at the Met," are very exciting and bring out the most aggressive and hard-driving side of both men. Pianist Teddy Wilson is featured extensively on five of the eight sessions; Earl Hines is at the keyboard for another session, which produced "Father Co-operates" and "Through for the Night." Anyone who likes Hawkins or small-group swing in general is advised to pick this up.
At the same time as the above sides were being recorded, the developments pioneered by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were slowly becoming part of the jazz language. Hawkins was always very receptive to the best of the newcomers, and he made records with trumpeters Gillespie, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, and Howard McGhee, as well as pianist Thelonious Monk and others associated with the bebop movement. Two sides with Gillespie, from what is often called the first full-fledged bebop session, are included on
Dizzy Gillespie: The Development of an American Artist
(Smithsonian Collection R004). "Woody'n You" and "Disorder at the Border" also feature Max Roach's drums along with Gillespie's rocketing trumpet and Hawkins sounding as roaring and full-bodied as ever.
Hollywood Stampede
(Capitol CDP 7 92596 2) consists of tracks from 1945 and 1947 with Howard McGhee and Miles Davis, including a number of fine, abstract ballad interpretations and the riffs

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