Coleman Hawkins

If you want to talk tenor-sax great Coleman Hawkins, you've gotta talk jazz Basics. First, cue up the 1926 Fletcher Henderson landmark "Stampede" and treat your ears to a little bit of history as Hawkins' runaway solo single-handedly transforms the tenor sax into an important jazz horn. Then catch the indisputable highpoints from the 40-year reign of the first great jazz tenor man, with everything from the sophisticated signature sounds of "Body and Soul" to the bold lines of "Picasso," the first unaccompanied tenor solo ever recorded; from the radiant elegance of "Moonglow" (recorded live at Newport, 1957) to an untamed "Crazy Rhythm" from the famous session featuring, among others, violinist Stéphane Grappelli and gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.

There's much more essential Coleman Hawkins in Next Steps.

To listen to the evolution of Coleman Hawkins is to track some of jazz history itself. Start off with "Plain Dirt" by McKinney's Cotton Pickers and catch a little bridge building between New Orleans ragtime and big-band swing. Check out a 1944 cut of "I'm in the Mood for Love" and witness Hawk doing his part to usher in the age of bop. Then listen as he joins Thelonious Monk, the pianist he helped make famous, for a gorgeous "Ruby, My Dear," before making his mark in the '60s with Duke Ellington and "Wanderlust," a debonair duet between elder statesmen.

Hawk's tenor tones keep ringing in Deep Cuts.

Like any true jazz great, Coleman Hawkins played well with others — sometimes to historical proportions, like the 1944 session with Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and others that produced not only a swingin' "Woody 'n You," but also the first official bebop recording. Which means he had no problem fitting right in behind passionate jazz chanteuse Abbey Lincoln on "Blue Monk," or getting his sturdy tenor swing to stand out and blend in with the Oscar Peterson trio on "I'll Never Be the Same." And in "Time On My Hands" (recorded live in Chicago, 1957), Hawk hooks up with one of his finest collaborators, fiery trumpeter Roy Eldridge.

It was the 1920s, and the tenor sax was still a Vaudeville oddity when young prodigy Coleman Hawkins decided he could do wild and wondrous things with the horn's undiscovered potential. With a tone that was strong yet supple, and an almost limitless talent for diving into any chord or key, Hawkins was a professional musician before the age of 13, soon backing early jazz greats like Mamie Smith ("I'm Gonna Get You") and wailing his way through a groundbreaking ten-year tenure with bandleader Fletcher Henderson ("King Porter Stomp"). By the time he became a free agent in the '30s, he was already a monumental figure, and the decades to come only cemented his legend. Our Coleman Hawkins Essentials brings you just that, from signature cuts like "The Man I Love" to way-out one-offs ("Me and Some Drums," with Hawk on the piano) to latter-day triumphs like "Summertime," featuring the tenor great Hawkins helped shape, Sonny Rollins.