Coleman Hawkins And Confrères (2025 Remaster) Coleman Hawkins

• 1 Maria 06:30
• 2 Sunday 05:19
• 3 Hanid 04:50
• 4 Honey Flower 08:42
• 5 Nabob 09:29
• Total Runtime 34:50

Info for Coleman Hawkins And Confrères (2025 Remaster)

Hawkins’ tenor saxophone playing is particularly confident and eloquent throughout the set. His group of “confreres” on the session is fortified by the Oscar Peterson Trio along with sit-in guests including Hank Jones (piano), Herb Ellis (guitar), Roy Eldridge and Buck Clayton (both on trumpet), and others.

The album was initially recorded across two sessions, on October 16, 1957 and February 7, 1958. Consisting of both original compositions from Hawkins and covers, highlights include a take on the big band classic, “Cocktails for Two,” the standard “Sunday,” and Hawkins’ own “Honey Flower.”

The project arrived in the middle of a wildly prolific era for the legendary musician. That date of October 16, 1957, is a particularly impressive one for Hawkins. In addition to recording the first track from Confrères, entitled “Maria,” Hawkins spent much of the day and evening in the studios recording two separate albums with producer Norman Granz for Verve Records: The Genius Of Coleman Hawkins and Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster. The day remains one of the great studio sessions of the decade.

The 52-year-old Hawkins was there, working with Oscar Peterson’s aforementioned trio. The musicians recorded twelve songs that were released as The Genius Of Coleman Hawkins, though the saxophone player saved one track for what would eventually become Coleman Hawkins And Confrères.

By that evening, Hawk and the other musicians were joined by 48-year-old Ben Webster, and the result was Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster. All seven numbers are standards, but the duo and their band bring undeniable originality to the compositions.

It’s a creativity Hawkins would bring to Coleman Hawkins And Confrères, too, which is rightfully receiving the reissue it’s deserved for a number of years. As Miles Davis once said of Hawkins, “When I heard Hawk, I learned to play ballads.” It’s easy to hear why on Coleman Hawkins And Confrères.

Coleman Hawkins, tenor saxophone
Roy Eldridge, trumpet (tracks 3–7)
Ben Webster, tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 2)
Hank Jones, piano (tracks 3–7)
Oscar Peterson, piano (tracks 1, 2)
Herb Ellis, guitar (tracks 1, 2)
Ray Brown, bass (tracks 1, 2)
George Duvivier, bass (tracks 3–7)
Mickey Sheen, drums (tracks 3–7)
Alvin Stoller, drums (tracks 1, 2)

Recorded in Los Angeles, CA on October 16, 1957 (track 1) and in New York City on February 7, 1958 (tracks 2–7)
Produced by Norman Granz

Digitally remastered

No biography found.

This album contains no booklet.