1958 · Album
The High and Mighty Hawk
Recorded 1958 · Felsted · Produced by Unknown
A Saxophonist Still Swinging in '58
Hawkins recorded this set when he was still hungry and playing with real fire.
By 1958, Coleman Hawkins had already spent decades proving himself the tenor saxophone's first true master. The High and Mighty Hawk captures him in the studio during a period when he refused to fade into nostalgia, continuing to cut records and gig constantly. This wasn't a comeback album—comebacks imply you've been away—but rather evidence of a musician who simply kept working.
The Felsted label release carries the brashness of its title, and that confidence matters. Hawkins recorded prolifically across different labels throughout the 1950s, and this set holds its own among them. What you get here is straightforward: a saxophonist and his group, playing with the directness that defined his approach. No elaborate arrangements or concepts. Just good players making music in a room together, which by that point in his career was exactly what Hawkins did best. The album didn't land as a watershed moment or a critical reappraisal—it was simply another solid entry in an enormous discography.
For listeners exploring Hawkins' work, this sits comfortably in the middle ground. It's not the place to start—that would be earlier material that established his influence—and it's not the album jazz historians point to as his peak. But if you already know who he is and want to hear him on a good day in 1958, doing what came naturally, this does the job.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Coleman Hawkins
Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins 1963
♫
The Hawk Flies High 1957
Coleman Hawkins and Confrères
The Hawk Relaxes 1961
The musicians on this record
Cannonball Adderley and the Poll-Winners 1960
Ray Brown
plays double bass here
plays double bass here
The Talented Touch 1958
Hank Jones
plays piano here
plays piano here
