Get me into Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by babaluma, Sep 26, 2016.

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  1. babaluma

    babaluma Forum Resident Thread Starter

    For some reason these two giants of tenor sax have passed me by. They both seem to have recorded a lot but in the pre 12" LP era (I maybe wrong) so there seem to be many phases and tracks scattered around.

    Can anyone recommend me some good stand along albums or complications they think represent some key recordings of these two players?
     
  2. babaluma

    babaluma Forum Resident Thread Starter

  3. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Are you looking for CDs or records? Are you looking for 40s or 50s recordings?
     
  4. babaluma

    babaluma Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Cds if possible and any era really, I don't know enough to judge really. Any eras you like particularly?
     
  5. kt66brooklyn

    kt66brooklyn Senior Member

    Location:
    brooklyn, ny
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  6. tubesandvinyl

    tubesandvinyl Forum Resident

    Two of the best!
     
  7. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    It doesn't get any better than this for Lester Young...

    Lester Young »

    And if you can find it on ebay, Mosaic's Coleman Hawkins box set is another must have, it is out of print.
     
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  8. Yes, the Coleman Hawkins Mosaic set is really awesome - I'm going to pick up the Lester Young box next...
     
  9. Whoopycat

    Whoopycat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines
    At Ease With Coleman Hawkins
    The Hawk In Hi-Fi
     
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  10. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    Such long and varied careers.... I mean for Prez I'd say start with the Basie Decca sides and the tracks with Billie Holiday, probably his most famous recordings.

    Hawkins is even tougher, though I will say the one-off anthologies on each done in connection with the Ken Burns Jazz series -- I think both out of print but easy to find on CD -- are excellent 30K foot career roundups with most of their most famous performances on 'em if you just want a single-set career overview.
     
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  11. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
  12. PNeski@aol.com

    [email protected] Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    easy Basie Decca and Columbia for Lester ,Victor (RCA) for Hawkins
     
  13. PonceDeLeroy

    PonceDeLeroy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland
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  14. Bobby Buckshot

    Bobby Buckshot Heavy on the grease please

    Location:
    Southeastern US
    I'm embarrassingly short on my collection of Pres.

    But for Hawkins, I have this one and really enjoy it:

    [​IMG]
     
  15. ducksdeluxe

    ducksdeluxe A voice in the wilderness.

    Location:
    PNW
    Pres & Teddy w/ Teddy Wilson from the mid-50s. Almost as good as JG56. He didn't decline at all until the very end. From the 40s his trio session with Nat King Cole and Buddy Rich is one of my favorites. For Hawk there is at least one cheap 5 CD box available. Hard to go wrong with anything from either of them. Colossal talents.
     
  16. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC
    Would rock and roll guitar solos have been the same without these guys?
     
  17. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I'm not an expert on either, so take this with a grain of salt.

    For Coleman, Night Hawk is great:

    https://www.amazon.com/Night-Hawk-C...watch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1475005704&sr=8-12

    For Lester, try the Aladdin Recordings:

    https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Ala..._title_2?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1475005758&sr=8-1

    It's OOP but it looks like used copies aren't too expensive.

    If you want to splurge I would get the Mosiac Boxset for Lester. I plan to get that one eventually.

    Note that the releases I linked I own on vinyl, not CD, so perhaps someone else can chime in re: the sound quality of those CD releases.
     
  18. Byrdsmaniac

    Byrdsmaniac Forum Resident

    The Proper Records compilations, The Lester Young Story and Coleman Hawkins: The Bebop Years each have four CDs of these artists at their very best with decent sound and very good annotations. I've had them for years and I still listen to them a lot. For early Hawkins the set from JSP is very good. It's true that Mosaic does a better job, but these sets are fine and can be had for $20 or less.
     
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  19. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    Somebody was selling The Hawk Flies High on MiFi SACD not long ago in the Classifieds. Might still be available.
     
  20. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    I echo this entirely. My fave CH.
     
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  21. babaluma

    babaluma Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Great suggestions everyone thanks!
     
  22. hodgo

    hodgo Tea Making Gort (Yorkshire Branch) Staff

    Location:
    East Yorkshire
    Here are four cracking albums that are available on both Analogue Production SACD & Vinyl formats.......

    http://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=results&searchtext=coleman+hawkins

    Coleman Hawkins / Encounters Ben Webster

    Coleman Hawkins / Coleman Hawkins and Confreres

    Coleman Hawkins / Wrapped Tight

    Coleman Hawkins / Today And Now

    There's also a great album with Duke Ellington although sadly the AP SACD is now out of print.
     
  23. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
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  24. hodgo

    hodgo Tea Making Gort (Yorkshire Branch) Staff

    Location:
    East Yorkshire
    I have the Ellington/Hawkins album on a late 80's Impulse CD and it sounds wonderful both in content and SQ.
     
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