Fellow saxophonist Lester Young, known as "Pres", commented in a 1959 interview with The Jazz Review: "As far as I'm concerned, I think Coleman Hawkins was the President first, right? As far as myself, I think I'm the second one." Miles Davis once said: "When I heard Hawk, I learned to play ballads."
One of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument, as Joachim E. Berendt explained: "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn".
Hawkins was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri, in 1904. Although some sources say 1901, there is no evidence to prove an earlier date; instead, there is record of Hawkins's parents' first child, a girl, being born in 1901 and dying at the age of two, possibly basis for the mistaken belief. He was named Coleman after his mother Cordelia's maiden name.
He attended high school in Chicago, then in Topeka, Kansas at Topeka High School. He later stated that he studied harmony and composition for two years at Washburn College in Topeka while still attending high school. In his youth he played piano and cello and started playing saxophone at the age of nine; by the age of fourteen he was playing around eastern Kansas.
Hawkins's first major gig was with Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds in 1921, and he was with the band full time from April 1922 to 1923, when he settled in New York City. In the Jazz Hounds, he coincided with Garvin Bushell, Everett Robbins, Bubber Miley and Herb Flemming, among others. Hawkins joined Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, where he remained until 1934, sometimes doubling on clarinet and bass saxophone. Hawkins's playing changed significantly during Louis Armstrong's tenure with the Henderson Orchestra (1924–25). In the late 1920s, Hawkins also participated in some of the earliest interracial recording sessions with the Mound City Blue Blowers. During his time with Henderson, he became a star soloist with an increasing amount of solos space on records. While with the band, he and Henry "Red" Allen recorded a series of small group sides for ARC (on their Perfect, Melotone, Romeo, and Oriole labels). Hawkins also recorded a number of solo recordings, with either piano or with a pick-up band of Henderson's musicians in 1933–34, just prior to his period in Europe. He was also featured on a Benny Goodman session on February 2, 1934 for Columbia, which also featured Mildred Bailey as guest vocalist.
In late 1934, Hawkins accepted an invitation to play with Jack Hylton's orchestra in London, and toured Europe as a soloist until 1939, performing and recording with Django Reinhardt and Benny Carter in Paris in 1937. Following his return to the United States, on October 11, 1939, he recorded a two-chorus performance of the pop standard "Body and Soul", which he had been performing at Bert Kelly's New York venue, Kelly's Stables. In a landmark recording of the swing era, recorded as an afterthought at the session, Hawkins ignores almost all of the melody, with only the first four bars stated in a recognizable fashion. In its exploration of harmonic structure it is considered by many to be the next evolutionary step in jazz recording after Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" in 1928.
After an unsuccessful attempt to establish a big band, he led a combo at Kelly's Stables on Manhattan's 52nd Street with Thelonious Monk, Oscar Pettiford, Miles Davis, and Max Roach as sidemen. Hawkins always had a keen ear for new talent and styles, and he was the leader on what is generally considered to have been the first ever bebop recording session in 1944 with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach. Later he toured with Howard McGhee and recorded with J. J. Johnson and Fats Navarro. He also toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic.
After 1948 Hawkins divided his time between New York and Europe, making numerous freelance recordings. In 1948 Hawkins recorded "Picasso", an early piece for unaccompanied saxophone.
Hawkins directly influenced many bebop performers, and later in his career, recorded or performed with such adventurous musicians as Sonny Rollins, who considered him as his main influence, and John Coltrane. He appears on the Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Jazzland/Riverside) record. In 1960 he recorded on Max Roach's We Insist! suite.
In the 1950s, Hawkins performed with more traditional musicians such as Henry "Red" Allen and Roy Eldridge with whom he appeared at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival and recorded Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster with fellow tenor saxophonist Ben Webster along with Oscar Peterson (piano), Herb Ellis (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums). In the 1960s, he appeared regularly at the Village Vanguard in Manhattan.
Meanwhile, Hawkins had began to drink heavily and his recording output began to wane. However, he did manage to record some notable albums, including an album for the Impulse! label with Duke Ellington. His last recording was in 1967.
With failing health, Hawkins succumbed to pneumonia in 1969 and is interred in the Yew Plot at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
The Song of the Hawk, a 1990 biography written by British jazz historian John Chilton, chronicles Hawkins's career as one of the most significant jazz performers of the 20th century.
Solitude
Coleman Hawkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You haunt me
With dreadful ease
Of days gone by
In my solitude
You taunt me
With memories
I sit in my chair
And filled with despair
There's no one could be so sad
With gloom everywhere
I sit and I stare
I know that I'll soon go mad
In my solitude
I'm afraid
Dear Lord above
Send back my love
I sit in my chair
Filled with despair
There's no one, no one
No onecould be so sad
With gloom everywhere
I sit and I stare
I know that I'll soon go mad
In my solitude
I'm afraid
Dear Lord above
Send back my love
The lyrics of Solitude by jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins express the struggles of the singer who is in deep despair and overwhelmed by the memories of their past love. The first verse portrays the haunting nature of the memories followed by the second verse which depicts the torment that the memories bring. The singer is sitting in solitude, dwelling on the past and feeling hopeless. The final verse reveals the fear that the singer has of being alone and a plea to God to bring back the lost love.
The repetition of the phrase "In my solitude" highlights the loneliness that the singer is experiencing. The choice of words such as "haunt" and "taunt" convey the continuous and unrelenting nature of the memories. The line "I know that I'll soon go mad" shows the extent of the singer's distress, and the repetition of the final verse emphasizes their hopelessness.
The song speaks to the universal experience of heartbreak and the struggle to move on. The lyrics remain relevant today as people still encounter pain and sorrow when dealing with lost love. The melancholic melody and rich harmonies of the song capture the emotions of the singer and add to the depth of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
In my solitude
I am alone with my thoughts and feelings
You haunt me
You are always on my mind, despite my efforts to forget you
With dreadful ease
It is easy for your memory to cause me pain and suffering
Of days gone by
Reminding me of the time we spent together, now lost forever
You taunt me
Your memory torments me and brings me sorrow
With memories
I am haunted by memories of our past together
That never die
These memories are always present, always painful
I sit in my chair
I am paralyzed by sadness, unable to move
And filled with despair
I am overwhelmed by sadness and hopelessness
There's no one could be so sad
My sadness is so great that no one else could understand it
With gloom everywhere
Everything around me is full of sadness and darkness
I sit and I stare
I cannot take my eyes off of the memories that haunt me
I know that I'll soon go mad
I am afraid that I will lose my grip on reality and suffer a mental breakdown
In my solitude
I am still alone, still overwhelmed by my memories and sadness
I'm afraid
I am scared of what my sadness might do to me
Dear Lord above
I am appealing to a higher power for help and salvation
Send back my love
Please bring my love back to me, or help me forget them
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: DUKE ELLINGTON, EDDIE LANGE DE, IRVING MILLS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@animoetprudentia2865
Love this record. Owned it on vinyl since high school.