COLEMAN HAWKINS’ Orchestra (SB 10523)
Body And Soul - Fine Dinner.
Tommy Lindsay, Joe Guy trumpets; Earl Hardy, trombone; Jackie Fields, Eustis Moore, alto saxes: Coleman Hawkins, tenor sax; Gene Rodgers, piano; Oscar Smith, bass: Arthur Herbert, drums.
Coleman Hawkins’ second record has been released, and again we are compelled to report that his improvisations on the slow tunes are sterile and meaningless, and his tone on the fast side forced and unpleasant. In reply to Mr. Caughren, who criticized our stand on Hawkins in the December 8 number, we might observe that the point at issue is not the roughness of Hawkins’ tone, but its quality. A tone can be rough - - like Pee Wee Russell’s - without being strained. A good jazz tone on any wind instrument,we insist, must combine force with restraint in some degree of balance. The finest and hottest intonation comes when great power is firmly controlled. When the control slips, you have the kind of tenor Hawkins plays on Fine Dinner. And not only the tone fails, but the phrasing, which becomes stiff and a bit sloppy.
On Body And Soul the trouble is different. No forcing here, and the tone is immensely better, even if a little sentimental. But Hawkins plays almost entirely without inspiration: his variations are mechanically constructed of cliches and without much logic.
Hawkins' talent in his Henderson days was undeniably fine, and we don’t doubt that he can do much better than the new records show. His present band is certainly uninspiring.
Editors note: Jazz Information ran as a weekly magazine from September 1939 to November 1941. It began life in the backroom of the Commodore Music Shop on 52nd St., NYC - the brainchild of former Columbia College students Ralph Gleason, Ralph Toledano, Eugene Williams and Jean Rayburn.
Some years ago an American musician, Joe Shepherd, put all but one issue on line although the site now seems to have vanished. It was a beautiful project that was ahead of its time even though they didn't always get it right as in the above review. - Lance.
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