Hawkins at Sixty-Five: Still Burning
By 1965, Hawkins had nothing left to prove, yet he kept swinging anyway.
By the time Coleman Hawkins recorded Wrapped Tight, he was already a living legend — the man who basically invented the tenor saxophone as a solo instrument back in the 1920s. You'd think by 1965 he might coast, but that wasn't his nature. This album finds him on the Impulse! label doing what he did best: blowing hard over solid material, not trying to sound young or trendy, just playing jazz the way he understood it.
The recordings here sit somewhere in the middle of his long career. Hawkins was past his commercial peak by this point, but that didn't matter much to him. What matters is that he still had fire. The band swings, Hawkins' tone is thick and authoritative, and there's no sense of a man going through the motions. This isn't the Hawkins of the 1940s bebop records, nor is it some watered-down late-period thing. It's a veteran player in his own skin, comfortable with who he is and what he can do. If you already love Hawkins, this is worth hearing — solid, honest work from a master. If you're new to him, start earlier, with his most famous recordings. But if you've heard him before and want to know what he sounded like in his sixties, still engaged and still capable, Wrapped Tight delivers exactly that.
The album title itself suggests something deliberate: tight arrangements, controlled energy, no wasted motion. That approach suits Hawkins perfectly. He was never one for sprawl or excess. He played the melody, played it well, and moved on. By 1965, that economical style felt almost old-fashioned, but in retrospect, it's precisely what makes these performances feel timeless rather than dated.
Who's playing
Buddy Catlettbass
Barry Harrispiano
Coleman Hawkinssaxophone
Bill Berrytrumpet
Snooky Youngtrumpet
Urbie Greentrombone
Eddie Lockemembranophone
Where next?
More by Coleman Hawkins
Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins 1963
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The Hawk Flies High 1957
Coleman Hawkins and Confrères
The Hawk Relaxes 1961
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
