Hawk
Description
Coleman Hawkins with Clara Smith: Texas Moaner Blues, Deep Blue Sea Blues. Fletcher Henderson Orchestra: Sudbustin’ Blues, He’s the Hottest Man in Town, Doo Doodle Oom, West Indian Blues, You’ve Got to Get Hot, Old Black Joe’s Blues, Charleston Crazy, Houston Blues, Jealous, I Can’t Get The One I Want, My Papa Doesn’t Two-Time No Time, 31st St. Blues.
Listening for Hawkins you also hear Redman, Fowler, Chambers. In 1924 Hawkins was still nineteen, in 1944 he was 39 playing bop, in 1964 he charted popular jazz albums. With Clara Smith here he solos at length in his blues style and also with Henderson plays more of a blues attack than of the orthodox straight melodic tone. Billy Fowler is on bass sax on several tunes.
Although Prez represented a new direction from the Hawkins style, the opposite is also true. Hawkins developed a unique rhythm-based style distinct from the customary tenor leads of Pettis and Krueger or lead c melody. Prez developed the c melody lead style taken from Tram. Possibly for the reason that a dance band tenor lead didn’t give as much excitement at that time. Hawk’s explosive approach led to Rollins and Roland Kirk.
No sax section had better trained musicians than Redman and Hawkins. But neither messed with the fox trot orthodoxy at this point. Together they created a parade of hits. The Redman/Hawkins reed section -supplemented by Billy Fowler - by the results obtained, was among the most successful in highly competitive 1924.
Prez from the Tram c melody approach started with the free floating popular dance band alto lead melodic line style heard early in Loren McMurray. But he drenched this high melodic line in rhythm with the band riffing behind him polyphonically. We are left rocking and rolling. Hawkins started from within the rhythm section as a basso foundation bouncing the beat but shaped by melody, like a bassist soloing. He brought a bass sax style to the tenor. Hawk and Prez both went off the beaten track, Hawk went low and Prez went high.
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