Coleman Hawkins on Video

Yesterday, I spent a chunk of the day listening to tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins while writing. Hawkins, or Hawk, remains a marvel. The first modern tenor saxophonist, Hawk could blow hot and soft, and had more to do with the invention of bebop than he's been given credit for. He was formidable his entire career, which spanned a good chunk of jazz history. His first recording was in 1921 and his last was in 1968. He died in 1969. But for our purposes, far better to see Hawk in action in videos clips. Then you can listen to whatever era you wish after:

Here's Hawk in 1958 with Roy Eldridge (tp), Claude Bolling (p), Arvell Shaw (b) and J.C. Heard (d)....



Here's Hawk on TV's Art Ford's Jazz Party in 1958...



Here's Hawk in London in 1964 on the BBC's Jazz 625, with Harry “Sweets" Edison (tp), Charles Thompson (p), Jimmy Woode (b) and Jo Jones (d)...



Here's Hawk in TV's Route 66 in a 1961 episode with Ethel Waters in bed, her wish to see the jazz group one last time granted. The musicians are playing to music recorded earlier. The inside joke here is that no one is on their natural instrument, and it's not a quintet. That's drummer Jo Jones syncing on trumpet, Roy Eldridge syncing on drums, Hawk syncing on clarinet and director Bill Gunn syncing on guitar. Hawkins did in fact double on clarinet in the 1920s and '30s in Fletcher Henderson's band and other orchestras but dropped it after 1933. As reader Bill Kirchner notes, “Though syncing, Roy was more than miming—he was actually a good drummer. Gunn was indeed a director, but that episode was directed by Jack Smight, whose many credits included CBS's The Sound of Jazz"...



Here's a fascinating two-hour taped interview with Hawk recorded in 1956 by Paul Bacon and Bill Grauer in Grauer's Manhattan living room. It was presumably conducted for The Record Changer, the magazine co-founded by Grauer and Orrin Keepnews, with illustrations and cover art by Paul Bacon (to read my JazzWax interview with Paul Bacon, go here).



And finally, I couldn't leave this one out. There's no Hawk on here, just Sweets, but you do glimpse Hawk off to the side for a brief second. It's easily the prettiest jazz version of The Girl From Ipanema...