Died On This Date (May 19, 1969) Coleman “The Hawk” Hawkins / Jazz Sax Great
themusicsover Coleman Hawkins
November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969
Coleman Hawkins was one of jazz’s first influential saxophonists. Just out of high school, Hawkins hit the road as part of Mamie Smith’s band, and just a couple of years later he teamed up with Fletcher Henderson. By 1937 he found himself in Europe touring with the likes of Django Reinhardt and Benny Carter. Hawkins’ recording of “Body And Soul” in 1939 became the definitive version of a song that has since been recorded hundreds of times, and his solo is considered one of the finest performances ever in popular music. Hawkins died of pneumonia on May 19, 1969 at the age of 64.
What You Should Own
Henry “Butch” Stone is best remembered as a singer and saxophonist with Les Brown & His Band of Renown. Stone learned to play the sax as a child and went on to play, as well as sing, in his high school band. By the ’40s, he was playing in Brown’s band with whom he stayed for many years. Stone’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” was very popular at the time. Throughout his career, Stone entertained American soldiers as part of Bob Hope’s shows well over a dozen times. He passed away at the age of 96.
Susannah McCorkle was an American jazz vocalist who made a name for herself during the late ’70s to early ’90s thanks to her quietly intensive voice. She signed to respected jazz label, Concord Records in the early ’90s and released two critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums. Around that time, she also made recordings for the Smithsonian Institution, being the youngest artist to do so at the time. McCorkle was also a published author, having penned short stories for Cosmopoliton and Madamoiselle as well as essays in the New York Times Magazine. McCorkle was a breast cancer survivor, but suffered from depression for many years. She took her own life at the age of 55 by leaping from the balcony of her Manhattan apartment.
Along with his brothers, Ricardo Abreu formed Los Papines, a popular Cubun band over 45 years ago. The band was somewhat unique in that it was just vocals and percussion. The band has been very influential to countless Afro-Cuban musicians that have come since. They have been named a National Cultural Heritage of Cuba. Abreu died of a stroke at the age of 75.
Elvin Jones was a jazz drummer who found his fame during the post bop era. Over the course of his illustrious career, Jones played with just jazz luminaries as
