Coleman Hawkins was one of the leading American jazz players of the pre-war era and is widely credited with the being one of the first to see the potential of the tenor sax as a solo instrument in jazz.

Hawkins attended high school in Topeka, Kansas and benefited from a musical education which included studying harmony and composition as well as learning the piano and cello. He moved to New York in the early 1920s joining the Jazz Hounds led by vaudeville singer Mamie Smith. In the 1930s Hawkins' reputation as a gifted sax player grew and he performed on some of the best known recordings of the era including a particularly memorable solo on 'Body and Soul', considered by many jazz aficionados to be a landmark example of the use of harmonic structure in a jazz solo.

After World War II Hawkins divided his time between New York and Europe earning a living as a sideman and session player. During the post-war period his name is closely associated with many of the jazz greats and includes performers such as Max Roach, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis and Dizzie Gillespie. In the latter half of his career Hawkins had a reputation for being a heavy drinker and he eventually died from liver disease in 1969 at the age of 64.

Coleman Hawkins

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