Charlie Parker-Coleman Hawkins: Ballade

[pete]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XEk_-npJ10

Y'know, I think we should have a contest to find the person that can post the most historically significant sax video. The only thing I know we won't have happen is someone posting A. Sax himself playing (and no, the animatronic statue doesn't count).

I'd also suppose I'd have to say that it has to be a VIDEO, not a slideshow with music -- although the Adrian Rollini and Rudy Wiedoeft recordings are DEFINITELY worth a listen.

 

[sideC]

It's very interesting to me to observe Coleman's approach to his horn, how he goes about the business of improvising music on the tenor saxophone. For a guy who was a star in the early '20s, his whole bearing and his musical concept is very modern. Bird, even though he's playing the most modern concept around in 1950, does not make Hawkins sound dated at all, in my opinion.

But Bird is the gold standard in 1950. He's totally reset the specifications for the alto saxophone by this time. He's pretty much reset the specs for just about every instrument, while he was at it. His ideas, his sound, and his technical mastery are on display here, and we can see him raising the bar before our very eyes.