He came of age when the tenor saxophone was a relatively new solo instrument (most saxophone soloists played the alto), and the scene was dominated by
Coleman Hawkins, the first great tenor sax player.
Here a member of the audience at an illegal jazz show where
Coleman Hawkins performed was held to be complicit in the illegal performance, and fined 46 pounds, because the audience member was said to have encouraged Hawkins to perform by simply buying a ticket in advance of the performance (216).
The quiet, understated black-and-white images of daily life and scenes of musicians like
Coleman Hawkins, Miles Davis and Elvin Jones were photographed between 1950 and 1962.
Programmes that included showcase performances by, to name but a few, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker,
Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Dave Brubeck, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billy Holiday and Ella Armstrong, should have gone out at peak time.
During this time, Hinton was featured on numerous recordings accompanying Benny Carter, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton,
Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Ethel Waters, and Teddy Wilson, to name just a few.
While the significance of these and other players is given its due in DeVeaux's narrative, it is the inscrutable and magnetic figure of tenor saxophonist
Coleman Hawkins whom DeVeaux places most prominently on the hinge separating "swing" and "bop."
Many, such as Dinah Washington,
Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, are gone.
Louis Armstrong, Ellington, Art Tatum, Lester Young, Count Basie,
Coleman Hawkins, etc.) both 'popular' and 'avant-garde' advances in 20th century classical music (e.g.
Delius has a big, broad, classic tenor tone which harks back to
Coleman Hawkins, but his approach to jazz is thoroughly modern and improvisatory.
Randy Weston: Oh, Count Basie, Duke Ellington,
Coleman Hawkins, you know, Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Earl Hines.