The O'Zone | Body and Soul — The Hawk Flies
“When I heard Hawk, I learned to play ballads.” —Miles Davis
“I think Coleman Hawkins was the President first, right? As far as myself, I think I’m the second one.” —Lester Young
“Body and Soul…a masterpiece…still timely and easily listenable. Mr. Hawkins is the fountainhead." —Sonny Rollins
RESPECT!
To begin, I hope this humble column can do justice to one of the greatest jazz giants of all time and that we can elaborate on his towering contributions to all music and more.
I have undying respect for the legendary Coleman Hawkins.
He quite easily could have rested on his beginnings, powerful as they were. To paraphrase Miles Davis, “He could’ve spent his entire career just playing 'Body and Soul', but didn’t; he kept on becoming a gigantic player.”
That sentiment from Miles begs the question of how many jazz players active in the 1920s were still relevant in the 1960s? From my perspective, aside from Hawkins, the other two were Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams: elite company to be sure.
Coleman Hawkins developed his musical identity very early in his career, but continued to expand his musical ideology throughout the entirety of his vast career. Hawkins began his musical career as a classical musician, studying piano (at age 4) and the cello (at age 11) with a love for both Bach and Pablo Casals. When he was 9, he switched to saxophone, and by 14, he was playing in eastern Kansas. He studied harmony and composition for two years at Washburn College in Topeka while still in high school.
Hawkin’s first notable gig was with Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds when he was 17. He moved with them to New York City at 20, where he joined Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra.
QUEST FOR ADVENTURE AND SELF RENEWAL
“Music should ALWAYS be an adventure.”
“If you don’t make mistakes, you aren’t really trying.” —Coleman Hawkins
This philosophy drove Hawk to constantly evolve as a player and stylist, from his early slap-tongue novelty approach to a smooth, virtuosic legato, a precursor to a now-common jazz saxophone style. He later embraced subsequent styles that grew from his own virtuosity. He not only re-invented himself but re-invented players who re-invented him! All the while, he remained humble and kind, an avuncular jazz uncle.
Hawkins had an in depth understanding of intricate chord progressions, developed from his formal studies of classical music theory. Hawk was motivated to explore these harmonic structures in his improvisations, a vertical approach that influenced generations of musicians. Before Coleman Hawkins, the tenor saxophone was a sort of novelty instrument.
He almost single-handedly established the tenor as a formidable instrument, taking it further than its previous role. That was risky business. It’s difficult to see that fact given how well developed an instrument it is now (due in no small part to Hawkins)... not unlike the way there was electric guitar before and after Jimi Hendrix.
Am I saying Hawkins was the Hendrix of saxophone? No, I might be saying Jimi was the Coleman Hawkins of guitar. There were plenty of fully developed guitarists before Hendrix. It’s the before and after I am alluding to. After those men, nothing was the same. Let’s look over some highlights from the career of a trailblazer.
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
“Body and Soul”. This is the sea of change. Seriously, everything after this was changed by this. Listen to it again…remember you are hearing it 86 years after he blew away everything that had come before it. Previously, solos were derivations of the melody. What is happening here is Hawk jettisons the entire melody in favor of a harmonic construct.
It’s based on the chords instead of the actual melody. It’s an outpouring of irregular, double-timed melodies and passages showcasing an entirely new level of intellectual and technical sophistication, this raised the bar for technical proficiency among future jazz musicians. This one song is a masterclass for what comes next….solos become spontaneous compositions.
The shift from variations on the original melody to instant advanced musical thinking kicked the door down, and bebop was not far behind. This cannot be overstated as its effect reached across decades and remade everyone. This technique becomes the must play for any players emerging afterward. And, guess what? He pulled it off in one take!
When you consider all the hacks available in current times, it’s nothing short of miraculous. This song changed the timeline.
EDDIE TELLS THE STORY IN VOCALESE
Vocalese is a jazz singing style/genre where lyrics are written to existing jazz melodies or even jazz solos. Putting words/syllables
To specific notes or runs. Eddie Jefferson, Jon Hendricks, and Kurt Elling are notable lyric writers and performers of vocalese.
Here we have Eddie Jefferson utilizing Coleman Hawkins’ solo on “Body and Soul” with lyrics as a tribute to Hawkins in 1968...it is an awesome example of the form.
JOHN COLTRANE INFLUENCED
I transcribed John Coltrane’s solo below, on his own version of “Body and Soul,” and compared it with Hawkins’. I learned so much that I did it again and again as Trane recorded this five different times. I got my hands on Andrew White’s transcription as well (yes, I freely admit I’m a jazz nerd).
Each version is pure admiration while standing up as his own man. Trane worked in an all-star band with Hawkins, Monk, and Blakey. WOW! The vision monster is born. Trane challenged himself much the same way Hawkins did, spending huge amounts of time practicing.
SONNY MEETS HAWK
Below “All the Things You Are” from Sonny and Hawk!, a historic recording where two generational giants met in a recording studio and showed the importance of the musical paths they crossed.
Although they are generations apart, they are influential to one another. Sonny Rawlins is on the right speaker and Coleman Hawkins is on the left side. The style? TENOR!
Paul Bley is the pianist, Bob Cranshaw is the bassist, Roy McCurdy is the drummer, and when there is a trumpet player, it’s Don Cherry.
Sonny and Hawk are ROLLING some serious avant-garde.
Sonny considered Coleman to be the king, and as a child would wait outside of Hawk’s brownstone in Harlem to get an autograph and learn all he could from his mentor.
Hawkins, for his part, was generous with his knowledge and helped to create Rollins as a player and a musician.
In this recording, Sonny decided he would play “out” to differentiate himself from Hawkins, but Hawk rose to the challenge, and the result is a truly magnificent tenor manifesto where nobody plays it safe and nobody pulls punches. It’s Ali vs. Frazier
PICASSO
Below is 1946’s “Picasso.” Coleman Hawkins is playing without accompaniment. It is an awesome exercise in musical virtuosity that directly affected Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Branford Marsalis, and even Ornette Coleman.
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