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Jazz Unlimited

The Career Of Coleman Hawkins: Father Of The Tenor Saxophone

By Dennis Owsley
Published December 11, 2014 at 3:45 PM CST
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Pee Wee Russell-1946
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Hank Jones-1987
Heard on "Tin Tin Deo" and "Fine and Mellow"
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Milt Hinton-1989
Dennis C. Owsley / Copyright Dennis C. Owsley
Heard on "Cloudy Skies," "Out of Nowhere," "I Surrender Dear" and "Blue Lou"
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Benny Carter-1989
Dennis C. Owsley / Copyright Dennis C. Owsley
Heard on "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"
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Tommy Flanagan-1987
Dennis C. Owsley / Copyright Dennis C. Owsley
Heard on "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"
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Major Holley-1986
Dennis C. Owsley / Copyright Dennis C. Owsley

Jazz Unlimited for Sunday, December 14 will be “The Career of Coleman Hawkins: the Father of the Tenor Saxophone."  Coleman Hawkins was the first to recognize the beauty and utility of the tenor saxophone.  Before he came along, it was a novelty instrument.  Since his first recording in 1921, Hawkins has paved the way for a lot of tenor players and influenced many.  He is known as the “father of the tenor saxophone.” We will listen to his 47-year career that includes music with Fletcher Henderson, St. Louis's own Pee Wee Russell, Earl Hines, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane.

The Slide Show shows pictures of some of the musicians heard on this show.

This Archive of the show will be available until the morning of December 22, 2014.

>> Playlist

Here is a video of a performance in Brussels in 1962 with Coleman Hawkins (ts) Georges Arvanitas (p) Mickey Baker (g) Jimmy Woode (b) Kansas Fields (d).

Tags
Jazz Unlimited Coleman HawkinsBenny CarterPee Wee RussellThelonious Monk
Dennis Owsley
Dennis Owsley has broadcast a weekly jazz show for St. Louis Public Radio since April 1983. He holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and is a retired Monsanto Senior Science Fellow and college teacher. His show, Jazz Unlimited, airs every Sunday from 9:00 p.m. to midnight. The show has the largest jazz audience in St. Louis and was named Best Jazz Radio Show in St. Louis for the years 2005-2007 and 2009 by the Riverfront Times. In celebration of his 25 years on the air, January 24, 2008 was proclaimed Dennis Owsley Day" in the City of St. Louis. He is the 2010 winner of the St. Louis Public Radio Millard S. Cohen Lifetime Achievement Award. Dennis is also a noted photographer, and his exhibit, In the Moment: Photographs of Jazz Musicians, ran from September 23, 2005 to January 21, 2006 at the Sheldon Art Gallery. He is a lifetime student of jazz history and teaches short courses on the subject. Dennis is the author of the award-winning book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis 1985-1973, published in 2006.
See stories by Dennis Owsley