Coleman Hawkins

AKA:

Hawk

Birth Name:

Coleman Randolph Hawkins

Birth Date:

November 21, 1904

Birth Place:

St. Joseph, Missouri

Death Date:

May 19, 1969

Place of Death:

Wickersham Hospital, Manhattan, New York

Age:

Cause of Death:

Liver disease

Cemetery Name:

Woodlawn Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Music

Associates:

Coleman Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and considered by many to be the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. Hawkins was one of the most influential tenor saxophonists in the history of jazz and a major figure in shaping the instrument’s role in the genre. He rose to prominence in the 1920s as a member of Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra, where his powerful tone and harmonic sophistication helped establish the tenor saxophone as a leading jazz instrument. In the 1930s Hawkins spent several years in Europe before returning to the United States and recording his landmark 1939 version of Body and Soul, a revolutionary performance that emphasized improvisation and advanced harmony and became one of jazz’s most celebrated recordings. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s he remained at the forefront of jazz, collaborating with emerging bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, showing a rare ability to adapt to new styles. Known for his rich, full tone and complex improvisations, Hawkins recorded extensively and continued performing internationally until the late 1960. Hawkins's 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 included Chu Berry, Charlie Barnet, Tex Beneke, Ben Webster, and Vido Musso. While Hawkins became known with swing music during the big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s.

Fun Facts

Fellow saxophonist Lester Young, known as the “President of the Tenor Saxophone”, commented in a 1959 interview with The Jazz Review: “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.”

His final residence can be found at 445 West 153d Street in New York City.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Woodlawn Cemetery

4199 Webster Avenue

Bronx, New York, 10470

USA

North America

Map:

Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York

Grave Location:

Yew Plot, Row 5

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery make your way to Park Avenue. Take Park Avenue through the cemetery and park at the corner of Park and Canna Avenues. Walk up the hill to the 5th row of Yew Plot. Count 5 memorials to the right for the final resting place of jazz legend Coleman Hawkins.

Grave Location GPS

40.882324983845876, -73.87108496394859

Photos:

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FAQ's

Coleman Hawkins was born on November 21, 1904.

Coleman Hawkins was born in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Coleman Hawkins died on May 19, 1969.

Coleman Hawkins died in Wickersham Hospital, Manhattan, New York.

Coleman Hawkins was 64.

The cause of death was Liver disease.

Coleman Hawkins's grave is in Woodlawn Cemetery

Videos Featuring Coleman Hawkins:

Coleman Hawkins - Body and Soul

Charlie Parker & Coleman Hawkins 1950

Coleman Hawkins & Ben Webster - It Never Entered My Mind

Lester Young & Coleman Hawkins - LIVE 1958

Barry Harris on Coleman Hawkins

Watch YouTube video titled Django Reinhardt & Coleman Hawkins - Blue Moon

Coleman Hawkins