Coleman Hawkins

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Coleman Hawkins was the first king of the tenor-sax.

He paved the way for others in the 1920s, had no close competition on his instrument until the emergence of Lester Young in the mid-to-late 1930s, and was still a modern and masterful player in the mid-1960s.

42 years after debuting with Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds and 40 years after he became a long-time member of the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, he is seen in 1963 performing his trademark song “Body And Soul.”

Hawkins had taken a two-chorus solo on “Body And Soul” on a classic 1939 recording, barely touching upon the melody while creating new and fresh variations over the chord changes.

While he played “Body And Soul” a countless number of times since then, he rarely if ever repeated himself in his solos.

From 1963 at the Metropol jazz club in Oslo Norway, after a minute of playing by the rhythm section behind scenes of the crowd, Hawkins takes an inventive and modern eight-minute solo on “Body And Soul.”

Hawkins is accompanied by pianist Einar Iversen (who has a brief solo), bassist Ole Jacob Hansen, and drummer Jarle Krogstad, showing viewers why he was greatly admired by Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane.

-Scott Yanow

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