The sound of Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969) remains, after all these years, as immediately recognizable as his direct and compelling ability to swing. No jazzman played with more fire the uptempo tunes and no one could be more persuasive on ballads. With the fluent support of his then-regular rhythm section, he made these four excellent albums.
ThreeGood Old Broadway, No Strings, Make Someone Happywhich include jazz versions of Broadway show tunes, are from Prestiges Moodsville series. The fourth, Today and Now, made for Impulse, explores everything from gentle, moody ballads and bluesy, mid-tempo pieces to some Hawk originals.
Overall, this 2-CD set is an interesting mixture of classics and undeservedly lesser-known compositions. Hawk gives each of these richly melodic songs a broadly warm and moving reading. Tommy Flanagan is his usual imperturbable, tastefully swinging self, intuitively grasping the feeling of the tunes and showing he was among the best pianists, technically and creatively, excellent as a soloist and a superb accompanist. On drums, Eddie Locke is typically capable, and bassist Major Holley contributes some delightfully humorous solos in a quartet that shows how to play firstrate, uncomplicated music.
Tracklist
Total time: 72:25 min.
CD 1
01. I Talk to the Trees (Loewe-Lerner) 4:18 From 'Paint Your Wagon'
02. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Kern-Harbach) 4:36 From 'Roberta'
03. Wanting You (Romberg-Hammerstein II) 2:23 From 'New Moon'
04. Strange Music (Wright-Forrest) 6:14 From 'Song of Norway'
05. The Man That Got Away (Arlen-Gershwin) 4:04 From 'A Star Is Born'
06. Get Out of Town (Cole Porter) 4:10 From 'Leave It to Me'
07. Here I'll Stay (Weill-Lerner) 4:05 From 'Love Life'
08. A Fellow Needs a Girl (Rodgers-Hammerstein II) 4:46 From 'Allegro'
09. Look No Further (Richard Rodgers) 4:28
10. La La La (Richard Rodgers) 3:18
11. Nobody Told Me (Richard Rodgers) 3:20
12. Maine (Richard Rodgers) 3:11
13. Loads of Love (Richard Rodgers) 4:10
14. The Sweetest Sounds (Richard Rodgers) 4:17
15. Be My Host (Richard Rodgers) 3:03
16. The Man Who Has Everything (Richard Rodgers) 5:56
17. No Strings (Richard Rodgers) 4:44
CD 2
01. Wouldn't It Be Loverly? (Loewe-Lerner) 7:45 From 'My Fair Lady'
02. Cry Like the Wind (Styne-Comden-Green) 4:30 From 'Do Re Mi'
03. Climb Ev'ry Mountain (Rodgers-Hammerstein II) 4:29 From 'The Sound of Music'
04. Make Someone Happy (Styne-Comden-Green) 3:03 From 'Do Re Mi'
05. Out of My Dreams (Rodgers-Hammerstein II) 4:48 From 'Oklahoma'
06. Have I Told You Lately? (Harold Rome) 3:22 From 'I Can Get It for You Wholesale'
07. I Believe In You (Frank Loesser) 4:42
From 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'
08. Go Li'l Liza (Traditional, arranged by Coleman Hawkins) 6:24
09. Quintessence (Quincy Jones) 4:44
10. Don't Love Me (Rivelli-Katz-Roberts) 4:39
11. Love Song from Apache (Raksin-Mercer) 4:12
12. Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet (Wenrich-Murphy) 9:50
13. Swingin' Scotch (Coleman Hawkins) 5:31
14. Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (Brown-Tobias-Stept) 4:29
Album details
Sources:
CD 1, tracks #1-8, from the LP "Good Old Broadway" (Moodsville MVLP23)
CD 1, tracks #9-17, from the LP "The Jazz Version of No Strings" (MVLP25)
CD 2, tracks #1-7, from the LP "Make Someone Happy" (MVLP31)
CD 2, tracks #8-14, from the LP "Today and Now" (Impulse A(S)34)
Personnel in all tracks:
Coleman Hawkins, tenor sax (except on CD1 #12 & 15); Tommy Flanagan, piano; Major Holley, bass; Eddie Locke, drums.
CD 1, tracks #1-8, recorded at Van Gelder Studio,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, January 2, 1962
CD 1, tracks #9-17, recorded at Van Gelder Studio,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, March 30 & April 4 (#10,12,13,15 & 16), 1962
CD 2, tracks #1-7, recorded at Van Gelder Studio,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, August 16, 1962
CD 2, tracks #8-14, recorded at Van Gelder Studio,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, September 9, 1962
Recording engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Original albums produced by Esmond Edwards (Moodsville) / Bob Thiele (Impulse)
This compilation produced for CD release by Jordi Pujol
© 2013 by Fresh Sound Records
Stereo · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered
Blue Moon Producciones Discograficas S.L.Press reviews
"Tenor sax players come and go, but no one, and I mean NO ONE, has ever played it better than Coleman Hawkins. Sure, there are different styles and sounds, but theres an authority in Beans playing that flows out of his horn, and no one else has that sovereign and magisterial control of technique and sound. In 1962, he put out four, count em four albums with the trio of Tommy Flanagan/p, Major Holley/b and Eddie Locke/dr. One was on Impulse! and the other three were from a Moodsville series. All of are incredible quality and taste. Hawk effervescently growls on Go Lil Liza and purrs like a contented kitten on Dont Love Me. What a tone! A tone of show tunes are featured here, and Flanagan even gets a couple chances in the trio format, where he sounds as lyrical as youd ever want. These guys comport together like the Show Time Lakers on material like Get Out Of Town and Wouldnt It Be Loverly? as Hawkins takes a tune and brings it to a whole new plateau of beauty. A hint of heaven while still stuck on earth."
—George W. Harris (May 13, 2013)
www.jazzweekly.com
