Jazz Artist of the Week
Coleman Hawkins - "Hawk"
Coleman Hawkins was jazz's first great tenor saxophonist and was largely responsible for establishing the tenor saxophone as a leading solo jazz instrument. His most famous recording is Body and Soul. Recorded in 1939, it was revolutionary because he only played about 4 bars of a recognizable melody. The rest of the solo was improvised around the chord changes. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential recordings in jazz history. Even without all of that...his amazing sound would be enough to make him influential. Miles Davis said "When I heard Hawk, I learned how to play ballads."
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