In the mid-1930s, just as the jazz trumpet was becoming popular in the swing era, Erskine Hawkins formed his 'Bama State Collegians in Montgomery, Ala. The band would go on to create a new swing sound that was more relaxed with a strolling groove. Born in Birmingham, Ala., Hawkins started playing the drums and trombone as a child before switching to trumpet at age 13. In 1930, when he was 16, Hawkins graduated from Birmingham Industrial and relocated to Montgomery to attend Alabama State Teachers College on a tennis scholarship. He soon gave up on the sport to major in music.
Hawkins's newly formed swing band traveled to New York in 1934, where he played many of Harlem's popular ballrooms, including the Savoy, which was known among insiders then as “the track." In 1938, Hawkins signed with RCA Bluebird, no easy task for an African-American bandleader then. And being dubbed the “20th Century Gabriel" by the label required the chops to back it up. Three of his dance records became hits—his Tuxedo Junction and After Hours, and Bobby Smith's Tippin' In.
Tuxedo Junction was named for the intersection of Ensley Avenue and 19th Street in the Ensley suburb of Birmingham and the center of African-American night life back in the late 1930s. It also was the name of one of the neighborhood's clubs. The loping swing of Hawkins's band was shaped by his sidemen, most notably Wilbur “Dud" Bascomb on trumpet and his brother Paul on tenor saxophone. It was Wilbur's opening solo on Tuxedo Junction that caught the ear of Glenn Miller in 1940, who turned the song into an even bigger hit. And Avery Parish was the pianist who opened After Hours.
Both the RCA deal and Hawkins's Gabriel moniker indicate that Hawkins's band was highly disciplined and superbly rehearsed, since errors then resulted in costly re-takes and could jeopardize a recording contract. Further evidence of the band's professionalism was the fact that the Hawkins's band's first two recording sessions in 1938 produced an impressive 12 masters. Arrangements for Hawkins's band jumped but were universally relaxed with a simmering coolness. If you listen carefully to his early recodings, you can hear that Hawkins was likely the inventor of the stroll, though he has never been credited with the accomplishment.
Hawkins's unique approach to swing is neatly illustrated on The Hawk Blows at Midnight, the trumpeter's quintet album for Decca in 1960. The group featured Erskine Hawkins (tp), Bobby Smith (as), Ernie Hayes (p), Leroy Kirkland (g), Lloyd Trotman (b) and Shep Shepherd (d). Songs include Tuxedo Junction, Love Is Here to Stay, Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat, Midnight Stroll, Blue Embers, Things Ain't What They Used to Be, Cherry, The Birth of the Blues, Tippin' In, If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight), Deep Purple and Hawkin' Around.
As critic Leonard Featured wrote in the album's liner notes:
Summing up his feelings about the album, Erskine commented after listening to a playback: “After so many years of recording with a big band, I was a little concerned about how my first album with a small combo would turn out. I must admit I'm very happy."
For those unfamiliar with Hawkins, this album is a good starting place, It gives us the trumpeter free from other trumpeters in his big bands and out on the open where we can hear his articulation.
Erskine Hawkins died in 1993.
JazzWax clip: Here's the entire The Hawk Blows at Midnight at YouTube. Just let it play...
Hawkins's newly formed swing band traveled to New York in 1934, where he played many of Harlem's popular ballrooms, including the Savoy, which was known among insiders then as “the track." In 1938, Hawkins signed with RCA Bluebird, no easy task for an African-American bandleader then. And being dubbed the “20th Century Gabriel" by the label required the chops to back it up. Three of his dance records became hits—his Tuxedo Junction and After Hours, and Bobby Smith's Tippin' In.
Tuxedo Junction was named for the intersection of Ensley Avenue and 19th Street in the Ensley suburb of Birmingham and the center of African-American night life back in the late 1930s. It also was the name of one of the neighborhood's clubs. The loping swing of Hawkins's band was shaped by his sidemen, most notably Wilbur “Dud" Bascomb on trumpet and his brother Paul on tenor saxophone. It was Wilbur's opening solo on Tuxedo Junction that caught the ear of Glenn Miller in 1940, who turned the song into an even bigger hit. And Avery Parish was the pianist who opened After Hours.
Both the RCA deal and Hawkins's Gabriel moniker indicate that Hawkins's band was highly disciplined and superbly rehearsed, since errors then resulted in costly re-takes and could jeopardize a recording contract. Further evidence of the band's professionalism was the fact that the Hawkins's band's first two recording sessions in 1938 produced an impressive 12 masters. Arrangements for Hawkins's band jumped but were universally relaxed with a simmering coolness. If you listen carefully to his early recodings, you can hear that Hawkins was likely the inventor of the stroll, though he has never been credited with the accomplishment.
Hawkins's unique approach to swing is neatly illustrated on The Hawk Blows at Midnight, the trumpeter's quintet album for Decca in 1960. The group featured Erskine Hawkins (tp), Bobby Smith (as), Ernie Hayes (p), Leroy Kirkland (g), Lloyd Trotman (b) and Shep Shepherd (d). Songs include Tuxedo Junction, Love Is Here to Stay, Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat, Midnight Stroll, Blue Embers, Things Ain't What They Used to Be, Cherry, The Birth of the Blues, Tippin' In, If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight), Deep Purple and Hawkin' Around.
As critic Leonard Featured wrote in the album's liner notes:
Summing up his feelings about the album, Erskine commented after listening to a playback: “After so many years of recording with a big band, I was a little concerned about how my first album with a small combo would turn out. I must admit I'm very happy."
For those unfamiliar with Hawkins, this album is a good starting place, It gives us the trumpeter free from other trumpeters in his big bands and out on the open where we can hear his articulation.
Erskine Hawkins died in 1993.
JazzWax clip: Here's the entire The Hawk Blows at Midnight at YouTube. Just let it play...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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