Coleman Hawkins - At Ease With Coleman Hawkins

Coleman Hawkins — At Ease With Coleman Hawkins

180-gram vinyl LP

Part of the Moodsville (Acoustic Sounds Series)

Pressed at Quality Record Pressings

Sax legend Coleman Hawkins could be fiercely aggressive in his playing; here he displays his tenderness. If ever there was a master of the ballad, it was Coleman Hawkins. His romantic style and sound caused one writer to say: "Hawk turned the saxophone into the sexophone."

Recorded in 1960 by the inimitable Rudy Van Gelder at his studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, At Ease with Coleman Hawkins finds tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins (nicknamed Hawk) effortlessly gliding through eight outstanding tracks in his trademark breathy tone.

At Ease was done for the Moodsville series but while Hawkins, with the expert help of his pianist, Tommy Flanagan, sets a mood on eight standards, it is never merely mood music.

Miles Davis once said, "When I heard Hawk, I learned to play ballads," and At Ease... shows why — at every turn — Hawkins blows with cool, understated beauty. Joined for this date by Flanagan on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums, Hawk turns in a laid-back, dream-like suite of ballads worthy of a spot in every sophisticated jazz fan's LP collection.

 

Side A

1. For You For Me For Evermore

2. While We're Young

3. Then I'll Be Tired Of You

4. Mighty Lak A Rose

Side B

1. At Dawning

2. Trouble Is A Man

3. Poor Butterfly

4. I'll Get By

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