The great tenor Coleman Hawkins started to go downhill in late 1965 (eating too little, drinking too much) and his career became progressively sadder until his death on May 19, 1969.
This Enja CD (comprised of brand new material taken from a Baltimore club date) has five lengthy performances and strong work from the rhythm section (pianist Barry Harris, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Roy Brooks) but Hawkins' solos are consistently aimless and occasionally lost.
His lines are shorter than in previous years and he seems to be gasping for air to an extent.
The ironic part is that the audience is overly enthusiastic, loving every note no matter how desperate Hawkins sounds.
Only on the brief closing "Ow" (where the tenor trades off very advanced phrases with Harris) does Hawkins sound up to par.
Skip this set and acquire some of his many valuable earlier recordings instead.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lover, Come Back to MeOscar Hammerstein II, Sigmund Romberg | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 17:09 | 39 MB | 96 MB |
| 2 | Body and SoulFrank Eyton, Johnny Green, Edward Heyman, Robert Sour | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 10:09 | 23 MB | 51 MB |
| 3 | In Walked BudThelonious Monk | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 16:42 | 38 MB | 86 MB |
| 4 | QuintessenceQuincy Jones | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 09:05 | 20 MB | 43 MB |
| 5 | Fine and DandyPaul James, Kay Swift | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 10:30 | 24 MB | 55 MB |
| 6 | Ow!Dizzy Gillespie | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 01:27 | 3 MB | 7 MB |
| 65 mins | 148 MB | |||||
| 65 mins | 341 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roy Brooks | Drums, Guest Artist, Producer |
| 2 | Frank Eyton | Composer |
| 3 | Dizzy Gillespie | Composer |
| 4 | Johnny Green | Composer |
| 5 | Oscar Hammerstein II | Composer |
| 6 | Barry Harris | Guest Artist, Piano |
| 7 | Coleman Hawkins | Primary Artist, Sax (Tenor) |
| 8 | Edward Heyman | Composer |
| 9 | Paul James | Composer |
| 10 | Quincy Jones | Composer |
| 11 | Thelonious Monk | Composer |
| 12 | Sigmund Romberg | Composer |
| 13 | Robert Sour | Composer |
| 14 | Kay Swift | Composer |
| 15 | Gene Taylor | Bass, Guest Artist |
| 16 | Matthias Winckelmann | Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |