Coleman Hawkins: Body and Soul
Musicians:
Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax),
Tommy Lindsay & Joe Guy (trumpets), Earl Hardy (trombone), Jackie Fields & Eustis Moore (alto saxes), Gene Rodgers (piano), William Oscar Smith (bass), Arthur Herbert (drums)
.Composed by Frank Eyton, Johnny Green, Edward Heyman & Robert Sour
.Recorded: New York, October 11, 1939
Rating: 99/100 (learn more)
Coleman Hawkins, photo by Ray Avery
Historian Ted Gioia calls this "the most celebrated saxophone solo in the history of jazz" and "a landmark, breakthrough performance" that's been "studied by generations of musicians and is loved by countless jazz fans." Of course, not every listener will care to analyze pedagogically a musician's chordal navigation. Moreover, what Gioia describes as Hawkins's "ponderous tone" and "baroque arpeggios" assembled in "rigidly logical" construction may strike today's ears as mechanistic and old-fashioned. Even so, "Body and Soul" deserves its due. No trailblazer in tenor sax balladry cut a wider swath than Coleman Hawkins.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: 1930s jazz · body and soul · tenor sax
2 responses so far
thnaks for the list of musicians i've been looking for this
this was so helpful. thanks