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Article: Coleman Hawkins, patriarch. (jazz musician)
- Article from:
- The Antioch Review
- Article date:
- March 22, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Antioch Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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My memory of the few times I saw Coleman Hawkins remains so vivid, after thirty years, that it continues to color my understanding of his music. By 1966, he had already embarked on the intractable downward spiral that culminated in his death on 19 May 1969, at sixty-four. But as a young enthusiast, making three trips to the Village Vanguard to catch a bill that paired his quartet with that of Sonny Rollins, I was blissfully unaware of anything but appearances. Not that my observations were detached. I knew RCA Vintage's Hawkins compilation, Body and Soul, and his Opera House recording with Roy Eldridge, so while I was excited about seeing Rollins, in Hawkins I fully expected ...