Search - Coleman Hawkins :: Coleman Hawkins & Confreres

Friendly encounter

Nikica Gilic | Zagreb, Croatia | 09/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In first two tracks Hawkins is joined by the ever-swinging Oscar Peterson trio, Ben Webster (who takes back seat on second track) and drummer Alvin Stoller, a nice group of hard swingers who nevertheless show more of their mellow side than some might expect...



The rest of the album is equally rewarding; the Hawk stretches his wings working with Roy Eldridge (tp), Hank Jones (p), George Duvivier (b) and Mickey Sheen (dm) - the drummer is the only musician on the album I don't think I've heard before; Hank Jones and Duvivier show the swinging ellegance I've heard from them before...



In his liner notes Nat Hentoff says something interesting and quite significant - when playing with Hawk, Eldridge doesn't feel the urge to light up the proceedings with a fierce solo (pyrotechnical hysteria is something often mentioned by Roy's detractors...). Hawkins' playing is so full of energy even in slower tempoes that Eldridge also takes it down a notch and constructs his solos with less high register explorations...



This, at first glance quite laid back album (Hawk relaxes, one might say) is therefore a great example of the jazz giants at the hight of their power, playing subtly and intelligently, toying with the jazz-idiom they helped to create (or that they joined with a lot of respect)."