| Coleman Randolph Hawkins, nicknamed 'Hawk' and sometimes 'Bean', was a prominent jazz tenor saxophone musician He was an important pioneer on the instrument sometimes known as 'The Father of Jazz Saxophone playing'.
In his youth he played piano and cello, and started playing sax at age 9; by age 16 he was playing professionally. He joined Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds in 1921 with whom he toured through 1923, at which time he settled in New York City. Coleman Hawkins joined Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, which whom he played through 1934, sometimes doubling on clarinet and bass saxophone. Coleman Hawkins' playing changed significantly during Louis Armstrong's tenure with the Henderson Orchestra. |
