Coleman Hawkins' 1957 session for Riverside, aside from an oral documentary record in a short-lived series, was his only recording for the label under his name.
Yet producer Orrin Keepnews had the good sense to invite the legendary tenor saxophonist to pick his own musicians, and Hawkins surprised him by asking for young boppers J.J.
Johnson and Idrees Sulieman in addition to the potent rhythm section of Hank Jones, Oscar Pettiford, Barry Galbraith, and Jo Jones.
The two days of sessions produced a number of strong performances, with Hawkins still very much at the top of his game, while both Johnson and Sulieman catch fire as well.
Even though most of the focus was on new material contributed by the participants, the musicians quickly adapted to the unfamiliar music, especially the leader's old-fashioned swinger "Sancticity" (which sounds like it could have been part of Count Basie's repertoire) and the pianist's tightly woven bop vehicle "Chant." Hawkins was one of the great ballad interpreters, and his majestic performance of the standard "Laura" is no exception.
The 2008 reissue in the Keepnews Collection series uncovered no previously unissued material, though expanded liner notes by the producer and improved 24-bit remastering make this edition an improvement over earlier versions.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ChantHank Jones, Henry Jones | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 05:08 | 11 MB | 21 MB |
| 2 | Juicy FruitIdrees Sulieman | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 11:19 | 25 MB | 50 MB |
| 3 | Think DeepWilliam Smith | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 03:26 | 7 MB | 15 MB |
| 4 | LauraJohnny Mercer, David Raksin | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 18 MB |
| 5 | Blue LightsGigi Gryce | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 05:47 | 13 MB | 25 MB |
| 6 | SancticityColeman Hawkins | Coleman Hawkins | Play | 09:12 | 21 MB | 43 MB |
| 39 mins | 90 MB | |||||
| 39 mins | 174 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rikka Arnold | Editing |
| 2 | Paul Bacon | Cover Design, Cover Photo |
| 3 | Tamaki Beck | Mastering |
| 4 | Shawn R. Britton | Mastering |
| 5 | Chris Clough | Project Assistant |
| 6 | Larissa Collins | Art Direction |
| 7 | Barry Galbraith | Guitar, Main Personnel |
| 8 | Bill Grauer, Jr. | Producer |
| 9 | Gigi Gryce | Composer |
| 10 | Coleman Hawkins | Composer, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Sax (Tenor), Saxophone |
| 11 | Jack Higgins | Engineer |
| 12 | J.J. Johnson | Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Trombone |
| 13 | Hank Jones | Composer, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Piano |
| 14 | Hank Jones Great Jazz Trio | Piano |
| 15 | Henry Jones | Composer |
| 16 | Jo Jones | Drums, Guest Artist |
| 17 | Philly Joe Jones | Main Personnel |
| 18 | Orrin Keepnews | Liner Notes, Producer, Reissue Producer |
| 19 | Johnny Mercer | Composer |
| 20 | Oscar Peterson | Main Personnel |
| 21 | Oscar Pettiford | Bass, Guest Artist |
| 22 | Nick Phillips | Project Supervisor |
| 23 | David Raksin | Composer |
| 24 | Albert Roman | Project Assistant |
| 25 | Steve Schapiro | Photography |
| 26 | William Smith | Composer |
| 27 | William Smith | Composer |
| 28 | Idrees Sulieman | Composer, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Trumpet |
| 29 | Joe Tarantino | Remastering |
| 30 | Paul John Weller | Cover Design, Cover Photo |
| 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). |