Coleman Hawkins
On Broadway

« A young saxophonist was complaining to me that listening to Coleman Hawkins made him nervous. I replied, "Coleman Hawkins is supposed to make you nervous! Hawkins has made every saxophonist of the last forty years nervous!" » _{(Cannonball Adderley, in an interview)}.

I'll be honest, while I write this review, I'm listening to this album and I can assure you that it truly has something paranormal; my hands move independently on the keyboard, and the description of the album flows by itself... In this album, we find 17 tracks of standard jazz style, and the "magical" thing about this record is the continuity of the tracks. Now suddenly, I find myself on the twelfth track, but it's as if I've only heard one song; the sound makes you travel into the fantastic world of "Hawk", especially with a very clean sound, which for a jazz connoisseur is the ultimate.

Now everything is clear. If you love Monk, Max Roach, or Miles Davis, you cannot but love Coleman, their "adoptive father." Most of the jazz giants have passed from 52nd Street to Kelly's Stable to greet daddy Hawkins... "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", "The Man That Got Away" are the main pillars of this CD, characterizing this musical work at its best. The tracks almost always start with a very low intensity, as if Coleman were afraid to dare too much (something certainly impossible), but the intensity increases halfway through and ends perfectly.

A record that can be listened to "in every way", at any time of the day, even though many consider it an "After dinner" jazz album, a definition which in my opinion greatly undervalues the CD. Critical note: if we want to find a small flaw... The continuous change in intensity can distract the listener a lot and may lead them to change the track, but generally, an almost perfect record.

I am aware of having dared a bit too much in reviewing this album, but it all happened while listening to "On Broadway" by Coleman Hawkins...

Giancarlo Andreacchio