Three Classic Albums: Bean Bags/The Genius of Coleman Hawkins/Night Hawk

Personnel: Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone); Herb Ellis, Kenny Burrell (guitar); Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (tenor saxophone); John Lewis, Oscar Peterson, Ray Bryant, Tommy Flanagan (piano); Milt Jackson (vibraharp); Connie Kay, Gus Johnson , Alvin Stoller, Oliver Jackson (drums).
Audio Remasterer: Dave Bennett .
Recording information: Chicago (07/03/1959); Englewood Cliffs, NJ (07/03/1959); Hollywood (07/03/1959); Newport Jazz Festival (07/03/1959); Chicago (10/19/1956); Englewood Cliffs, NJ (10/19/1956); Hollywood (10/19/1956); Newport Jazz Festival (10/19/1956); Chicago (10/1957); Englewood Cliffs, NJ (10/1957); Hollywood (10/1957); Newport Jazz Festival (10/1957); Chicago (12/30/1960); Englewood Cliffs, NJ (12/30/1960); Hollywood (12/30/1960); Newport Jazz Festival (12/30/1960).
Coleman Hawkins was the first in a line of modern tenor saxophonists who changed and expanded how the instrument fit into jazz improvisation, and for some 40 years (1925 to 1965) he was the template that later players like Sonny Rollins followed and measured themselves against. This two-disc set collects three late-'50s and early-'60s Hawkins LPs, The Genius of Coleman Hawkins (originally released in 1957), Bean Bags (1958), and Night Hawk (1960), and adds in tracks from The Newport Jazz Festival 1959 and 1957's Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge at the Opera House, to make an enjoyable and varied portrait of this important player who helped usher in the role of the tenor sax in modern bop. ~ Steve Leggett