Coleman Hawkins & Tommy Flanagan - Coleman Hawkins All Stars + At Ease with Coleman Hawkins + Night Hawk (2012)

In 1960, the year these recordings were made, Hawk was in his mid 50s and still at the height of his creative powers. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was not out of fashion. Younger musicians did not merely respect him as a great historic figure: their admiration was open and active. They went to hear him play, and they played with him. As a musician and as a man, he seemed unmarked by any generation gap.

When he played, what came out was timeless music in rich, full-bodied phrases. His imagination was as fecund as ever, his control as strong, his hands as sure. On these three albums, made with some of the finest musicians of the swing, bop and mainstream eras including the gilt-edged piano of the late, great Tommy Flanagan, an ever-present on all these sessions - he showed yet again he remained a master able to work well within any framework. And still the boss tenor of jazz.