Happy Birthday, Coleman Hawkins – jazz tenor balladeer extraordinaire!

Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 - May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was a prominent jazz tenor saxophonist.

He is commonly regarded as the first important and influential jazz musician to use the instrument: Joachim E. Berendt wrote, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn".

While Hawkins is most strongly associated with the swing music and big band era, he began playing professionally in the early 1920s and was important in the development of bebop in the 1940s. He continued to be influenced by the avant-garde jazz of the 1950s and '60s.

Lester Young, who was called "Pres", 1959 interview with Jazz Review said "As far as I'm concerned, I think Coleman Hawkins was the President first, right? As far as myself, I think I'm the second one."

Miles Davis once said: "When I heard Hawk I learned to play ballads.”READ FULL ENTRY AT:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleman_Hawkins