Coleman Hawkins

The 20’s were a turning point in the history of music, which coincides with a turning point in the mindset of African Americans, especially in large cities like New York. The black entertainment industry, up until now, had always been a white mans exhibition of the Negro for white audiences (Cooper). The Harlem renaissance and the idea of the ‘New Negro’ was a precursor for a wave of African American musicians and songwriters who would not be restricted to the same conventions which their predecessors were. Coleman Hawkins learned to play the piano at the age of 5, and two years later he moved on to the cello. At 9 he learned the saxophone and by the time he was twelve he was playing in the Kansas City Theatre Pit Band. Coleman Hawkins first inserted himself into the Jazz scene in 1921, at the very beginning of the Jazz age and the roaring 20’s. He played alongside the travelling blues and vaudeville star, Mamie Smith. After playing this background role for 2 years, he joined Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra. This would reinvent Coleman Hawkins as a lead soloist and a big star of American jazz, a title that he retained for more than 40 years (Yanow). Hawkins should be included in this course because he was a major part of the swing jazz and big band movement, both in America and Europe, while reinventing the tenor saxophone as a Jazz instrument and an art form. His single, ‘Body and Soul’, was not only outrageously popular, but did so while defying many of the swing conventions of jazz music at the time. He was also one of the pioneers of early bebop and was a huge influence on later musicians such as John Coltrane and sonny Rollins. Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra was one of the most popular and influential ‘Hot Jazz’ bands of the 20’s, and Coleman Hawkins was a full time member for 11 years and was considered the centerpiece of the band (Oxford). Their home was the Roseland Ballroom. This dance club would later be known as the best dance club in New York.