1957 · Album
The Hawk Flies High
Recorded 1957 · Prestige Records · Produced by Bob Weinstock
When Hawk Meets the Bebop Generation
Hawkins surrounded himself with players half his age, and the energy crackles throughout.
By 1957, Coleman Hawkins was already a legend — the man who invented the tenor saxophone as a solo voice in jazz. But instead of retreating into the comfortable role of elder statesman, he walked into the studio with a sextet full of bebop players who'd grown up in a different world. J.J. Johnson on trombone, Idrees Sulieman on trumpet, Hank Jones on piano, Oscar Pettiford on bass, Barry Galbraith on guitar, and Jo Jones on drums. This wasn't nostalgia or a cash grab. It was Hawkins refusing to calcify.
What you hear on The Hawk Flies High (1957) is a saxophonist who'd spent thirty years perfecting a huge, breathy tone, now running circles around musicians who'd been shaped by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. The beboppers bring velocity and harmonic sophistication; Hawkins brings weight and authority. The result is genuinely stimulating — not because it's some grand collision of eras, but because these players respect each other enough to push. Johnson and Sulieman are excellent foils, trading ideas with real precision, and Jones anchors everything with the kind of solid swing that never draws attention to itself but makes everything else possible.
In Hawkins's catalog, this one sits comfortably in the middle ground — solid, worth hearing, but not the place to start if you're new to him. His earlier work is rawer and more essential; his later recordings have their own appeal. But if you already know Hawkins and want to hear him engaged with players operating on a different frequency, this rewards the time. It's a professional date played by people who know what they're doing, and sometimes that's exactly enough.
Who's playing
Oscar Pettiforddouble bass
Hank Jonespiano
Barry Galbraithguitar
Coleman Hawkinstenor saxophone
Idrees Suliemantrumpet
J.J. Johnsontrombone
Jo Jonesdrums
Where next?
More by Coleman Hawkins
Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins 1963
Coleman Hawkins and Confrères
The Hawk Relaxes 1961
Desafinado 1962
The musicians on this record
Oscar Pettiford Modern Quintet 1955
Oscar Pettiford
plays double bass here
plays double bass here
Percussion and Bass 1960
Jo Jones
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
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The Trio with Guests 1956
Hank Jones
plays piano here
plays piano here
