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Best Of, of course, is just a marketing slogan, for this roundup of late-period Bean only covers a less-than-four-year patch in a career that spanned five decades. It does, however, provide a useful survey of a time in which Hawkins was recording prolifically for Prestige and its Swingville and Moodsville subsidiaries. Hawkins was then in his mid-'50s, his matchless tone still in prime smoky form, his harmonic ideas pretty much set after decades of keeping an open ear and mind, but still willing to investigate the latest trends and developments. While a snappy, hard-swinging "I'm Beginning to See the Light" leads off the survey, and another romping slice of Ellingtonia, "In a Mellotone," turns up later, these tracks are anomalies, for the majority of the tunes are relaxed, laid-back blowing sessions where Bean's tenor sprawls comfortably as if from an easy chair. One reason for "Mellotone's" relative fire, no doubt, is the spirited competition that Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis provides; their trading of fours near the close rouses Hawkins to offer some gritty rejoinders. Though not known as a bluesman per se, Hawkins still does an agreeable job with the soul-jazz "Soul Blues" that, alas, starts to run out of steam before its nearly ten-minute length is consumed. While at times one can question the reasoning behind what is "best" -- "Greensleeves," for example, is mostly a bore -- Bean's majestic personality still makes an indelible impression in this selection.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
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Wendell Marshall, Upright Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Osie Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Rudy Van Gelder, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Don George, ComposerLyricist - Coleman Hawkins, Tenor Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Tommy Flanagan, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - JOHNNY HODGES, ComposerLyricist - JOE THOMAS, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - HARRY JAMES, ComposerLyricist - Vic Dickenson, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Esmond Edwards, Recording Supervisor, StudioPersonnel - Phil De Lancie, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1996 Prestige Records
Wendell Marshall, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Osie Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Rudy Van Gelder, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Coleman Hawkins, Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Kenny Burrell, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Bryant, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Henry VIII, Composer - Esmond Edwards, Producer
℗ 1958 Original Jazz Classics
Wendell Marshall, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Pepper Adams, Baritone Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Jerome Richardson, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Coleman Hawkins, Tenor Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Buddy Johnson, Composer - Roy Gaines, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Bryant, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Jerry Valentine, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Idrees Sulieman, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Walter Bolden, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1959 Swingville
Wendell Marshall, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Osie Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Coleman Hawkins, Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Roy Turk, Composer - Tommy Flanagan, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Fred E. Ahlert, Composer - Esmond Edwards, Producer
℗ 1960 Original Jazz Classics/Prestige Records, Inc.
Wendell Marshall, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Osie Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Rudy Van Gelder, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Coleman Hawkins, Composer, Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Kenny Burrell, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Bryant, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Esmond Edwards, Producer
℗ 1958 Original Jazz Classics
Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Frank Signorelli, Composer - Matt Malneck, Composer - Coleman Hawkins, Tenor Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Kenny Burrell, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Ronnell Bright, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Andrew Cyrille, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1961 Original Jazz Classics
Richard Rodgers, Composer - Coleman Hawkins, Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Major Holley, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Tommy Flanagan, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Esmond Edwards, Producer - Eddie Locke, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1962 Moodsville
Doug Watkins, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - CHARLES WRIGHT, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Coleman Hawkins, Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Bell, Composer - Red Garland, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Red Garland Trio, MainArtist
℗ 1960 Original Jazz Classics
Ron Carter, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Coleman Hawkins, Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Tommy Flanagan, Piano, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Edward Kennedy Ellington, ComposerLyricist - Gus Johnson, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1961 Original Jazz Classics
Jule Styne, Composer - Coleman Hawkins, Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Major Holley, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Adolph Green, Composer - Betty Comden, Composer - Tommy Flanagan, Piano, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Bob Weinstock, Producer - Eddie Locke, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1963 Moodsville
Jerome Kern, ComposerLyricist - Otto Harbach, ComposerLyricist - Coleman Hawkins, Saxophone, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Major Holley, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Tommy Flanagan, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Bob Weinstock, Producer - Eddie Locke, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2005 Prestige Records, Inc.
Album review
Best Of, of course, is just a marketing slogan, for this roundup of late-period Bean only covers a less-than-four-year patch in a career that spanned five decades. It does, however, provide a useful survey of a time in which Hawkins was recording prolifically for Prestige and its Swingville and Moodsville subsidiaries. Hawkins was then in his mid-'50s, his matchless tone still in prime smoky form, his harmonic ideas pretty much set after decades of keeping an open ear and mind, but still willing to investigate the latest trends and developments. While a snappy, hard-swinging "I'm Beginning to See the Light" leads off the survey, and another romping slice of Ellingtonia, "In a Mellotone," turns up later, these tracks are anomalies, for the majority of the tunes are relaxed, laid-back blowing sessions where Bean's tenor sprawls comfortably as if from an easy chair. One reason for "Mellotone's" relative fire, no doubt, is the spirited competition that Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis provides; their trading of fours near the close rouses Hawkins to offer some gritty rejoinders. Though not known as a bluesman per se, Hawkins still does an agreeable job with the soul-jazz "Soul Blues" that, alas, starts to run out of steam before its nearly ten-minute length is consumed. While at times one can question the reasoning behind what is "best" -- "Greensleeves," for example, is mostly a bore -- Bean's majestic personality still makes an indelible impression in this selection.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 01:04:22
- Main artists: Coleman Hawkins
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Prestige
- Genre: Jazz
© 2004 Fantasy, Inc. This Compilation ℗ 2004 Fantasy, Inc.
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