Coleman Hawkins

Wow guys, it's been almost one crazy year now when I started this series.

I had no idea if I could keep up with… yes, I'm proud! And I'm pretty sure there will be at least one more year with an ongoing Song of the Week on Mondays :-)!

So, for the last song of the first year, I have chosen the standard “On The Sunny Side of the Street“, recorded by Coleman Hawkins in 1944 – not to be confused with earlier versions by Hawkins, which all are shorter.

Scott Yanow describes Hawkins as follows on allmusic.com: “Coleman Hawkins was the first important tenor saxophonist and he remains one of the greatest of all time.

A consistently modern improviser whose knowledge of chords and harmonies was encyclopedic, Hawkins had a 40-year prime (1925-1965) during which he could hold his own with any competitor.”

Did you know? In the 30s, Hawkins spent some years in Europe. For me especially interesting:

During that time, he stayed for a longer time in Switzerland, where he played a session in May 1936 with Ernst Höllerhagen and the Berries (with Hawkins as vocalist!).

There are several reasons, why I love this song:

• the solidly swinging rhythm section, which is never too loud
• the humming sound of the saxes in the background creating kind of a curtain
• the beautiful sax lines by the different soloists, very soulful
• the piano solo in the middle of the song
• and of course the outstanding solo by Hawkins at the end

What about you?

You can find the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist. Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw

Do you like the “Song of the Week” series? Share your thoughts below.

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• Song of the Week #49: “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen” by Gordon Webster