Coleman Hawkins

1950-1953 Coleman Hawkins

Like many other artists of his generation, Coleman Hawkins could no longer make studio recordings on a regular basis in the early fifties. Despite his charisma and image most record companies cared little for jazz stars from the Swing Era. This is quite unfair in the case of Hawkins since he always kept his ears wide open to new trends, playing with and also learning from young and contemporary talents. In spite of the lack of commercial opportunities the saxophonist continued to work at clubs and in concert. This CD of Coleman Hawkins' recordings presented in chronological order opens with three tracks that were made at Carnegie Hall during a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert.