Coleman Hawkins

COLEMAN HAWKINS d1969. American jazz tenor saxophonist nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean". One of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. He cited his influences as ; Happy Caldwell / Stump Evans and Prince Robinson, although he was the first to tailor his method of improvisation to the saxophone rather than imitate the techniques of the clarinet. His virtuosic, arpeggiated approach to improvisation with his characteristic rich, emotional and vibrato-laden tonal style was the main influence on a generation of tenor players that followed. Whilst he became known with swing music during the big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s. He died in New York aged 64 on May 19th 1969