Coleman Hawkins - The Hawk Relaxes

THE VELVET TENORIST...

Outstanding cool- velvet- playing from a master of tenor sax.
Transfers you to a different sensual and romantic era.
Mr.Hawkins uses his own playing style an harmonic language of real Jazz creating timeless pieces.
Any 'decent' jazz listener should have at least a sample from his work. May 22, 2007

Relaxed but hardly perched.

The review by Mr. Dawson gets it right--Hawk is his "old self" on this early sixties recording. His tone isn't simply "pretty." Nor is it burdened by heaviness and grease, breathiness and spit, or exaggerated vibratos or swing era devices. Even when performing ballads, the Hawk talks, punctuating the poetry with those unmistakable, near-vocal articulations.

The program is delightful, and those who fear that every Hawkins' solo will be another harmonic clinic based on arpeggios need have no such misgivings: he's economical yet generous and poetic in sound and phrasing. This one helps erase the memory of the unfair, or less than thoughtful (in my opinion), musical meeting that Sonny Rollins hosted for the pair on a slightly later RCA recording. It also exposes the mindless rating system employed by All Music Guide, which should not attempt to attach a quantitative assessment to music about which its reviewer is obviously clueless. March 29, 2007

Quintet of Crossed Destinies

The Hawk had long since feathered nests like these, remarkable bands of musicians pulled in close to create timeless art. Recorded in 1961, the groove is indeed relaxed but with Ron Carter on bass and Kenny Burrell on guitar, the Hawk more than anybody knew how to luxuriate in its elegant sparkle. Unlike the 1959 classic Very Saxy, where the pressure of the moment found Hawk hurtling out some of his most magnificent cragged utterances, his tone here is still full (when wasn't it?) but has returned to an earlier smoothness.

Having followed closely his recorded career throughout the 1930's, 40's and 50's, I'd fallen into the assumption that next to those decades of brilliance the 60's had nothing to match it with; this recording proves how wrong that assumption was. Ballad readings though these primarily are, the colourful, harmonic melancholy exuding from the tenor contrasts well with the bands inherent sense of swing. With crisp, alert drumming from Andrew Cyrille (then just 21) and elegant sounding bass and piano lines alongside Burrell's rich and clear guitar chords, this was the kind of dream team rhythm section that Coleman always got a kick out of having around him. The result is yet another gem from the Hawkins treasure chest. November 15, 2006

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