Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Hawk meets Duke

"Rainbow Mist" from the Chicago-based Delmark label's Apollo series is another good Coleman Hawkins compilation. The title track is almost the equal of "Body and Soul."

I've got a lot of Hawk CDs, but my favorite is probably "Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins." Recorded in 1962 with an octet of the Duke, six of Ellington's guys (including Johnny Hodges on alto sax) and Hawkins, the liner notes say they just kind of showed up and started playing. I believe it, because at that point what the hell couldn't they play? Hawk sounds fabulous on this disk. It, the BMG/Victor Jazz "Body and Soul" and the above-mentioned "Rainbow Mist" would make for a nice little Hawkins collection.

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