music clip of the day

Henry “Red” Allen (trumpet), with Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone), Vic Dickenson (trombone), Pee Wee Russell (clarinet), Rex Stewart (cornet), Danny Barker (guitar), Nat Pierce (piano), Milt Hinton (bass), Papa Jo Jones (drums), “Wild Man Blues,” live (TV Broadcast, The Sound of Jazz), 1957

All-star jam sessions often fizzle. Not this one. What makes this so good? A lot of it, I think, has to do with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, who takes the first solo after trumpeter Red Allen states the melody. Right from the beginning (1:27-) it’s apparent that Hawkins isn’t just going through the motions. He plays, throughout, with great concentration and conviction, not wasting a moment. This inspires everyone; you can see it in their faces (1:44-47, 1:55-58, 2:03-08, 2:39-44). He gives the others a lot to live up to—and they do.

(Yo, Randy—thanks for the tip!)

This entry was posted on 01/30/2012 at 7:01 am and is filed under bass, cornet, drums, guitar, jazz, saxophone, trombone, trumpet. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Coleman Hawkins, Danny Barker, Henry "Red" Allen, Milt Hinton, music clip of the day, Nat Pierce, Papa Jo Jones, Pee Wee Russell, Rex Stewart, Vic Dickenson