2-3-4 is an album by American jazz drummer Shelly Manne featuring performances recorded in 1962 for the Impulse! label. 2-3-4 was not a typical album for Manne. Then associated primarily with West Coast jazz, he flew from Los Angeles to New York City on February 5, 1962, by arrangement with producer Bob Thiele, to be reunited with pioneering tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and pianist Hank Jones, with both of whom he had recorded at different times in the 1940s. In an unusual session lasting through the wee hours of the morning, he ended by recording one tune as a duet with Hawkins, who for the first time in his career was recorded also playing the piano.

The Hawk Flies High is a 1957 album by jazz tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. Apart from Barry Galbraith and Jo Jones on guitar and drums, the line-up of his accompanying sextet had a bebop background, namely J.J. Johnson on trombone, Idrees Sulieman on trumpet, pianist Hank Jones, and Oscar Pettiford on bass.

This unique 1958 recording is a collaboration between Coleman Hawkins and the Oscar Peterson Trio. Hawkins's voluminous, supple tenor sax sound, which had a great influence on the styles of musicians ranging from Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins up to Joe Lovano, is best heard on Honey Flower.

Kenny Burrell performs with Coleman Hawkins and his rhythm section. Burrell is in optimum form on all the numbers and in their varied expressions. The leading neo-bop guitarist, he is capable of a far reaching range of expression. His chords can be as lush as, say Johnny Smith’s can, but his lines are always rhythmically spirited by a very powerful jazz energy and blues-in-formed charge that I think no contemporary guitarist can equal.

Recorded over three sessions in 1957, when Thelonious Monk was leading a band that included John Coltrane, this historic meeting of two legends was not released until 1961 due to contractual issues. By that time Coltrane was a household name, leading his own band, at least as famous or even more so than Monk. This album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.

This album capture the momentous meeting of four great iconoclastic jazz figures. It was a historic, magical moment when Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell, Oscar Pettiford and Kenny Clarke came together on the stage of the Grugahalie in Essen on the evening of April 2nd, 1960 and played for an Essen Jazz Festival audience of some 8,000 people. That audience was uniquely privileged because it was to witness the performance of some most inspirational spontaneous music from a quartet of jazz masters who were destined never to play together again. Oscar Pettiford, one of the prime emancipators of the bass, died later that year; Bud Powell went to that great 52nd Street in the sky six years later. And three years after that, Coleman Hawkins was dead. A most precious recording, then - and it underscores yet again the gratitude that all jazz lovers owe to the people who ensure that such auspicious musical encounters are preserved on record.

As critic Nat Hentoff makes clear, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster were larger than life. Formidable, even forbidding presences, they revealed a depth of feeling in their playing that spoke of their vast life experiences, as great writers or painters speak through their work.

From the archives of Bibliothèque nationale de France… Original Mono version of Buck Clayton, Coleman Hawkins - Petits jazz pour tous no.21…

Ben Webster emulated the big, breathy saxophone style of his influence, Coleman Hawkins. When the two legendary tenor sax players joined forces on this historic 1957 recording, the results were magical. The two players show off how they can swing and yet display sensitivity playing the beautiful melodies of the mid-tempo ballads, backed by an incredible rhythm section starring Oscar Peterson on piano along with Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on double bass and drummer Alvin Stoller.

Coleman Hawkins recorded three sessions for Impulse Records in the early to mid '60s. Of the three, Today And Now is the most compelling. The unusual choice of repertoire is what sets this album apart. Versions of the traditional song "Go Li's Liza" and the fairly obscure Quincy Jones ballad "Quintessence" are creatively rendered. Indeed, Hawk seems inspired throughout; he plays with an abandon that is altogether effortless.

In the course of a long and illustrious career, Hawkins has subjected his style to continuous development. Intellectually and technically flexible, the style has always remained the man, distinctive and personal. This album reveals a new deployment of resources, a new viewpoint arrived at after a period of reflection.

The original "four tenors" - tenor saxophonists, that is. Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis invited three titan tenor sax players to join him and his quartet in the studio for Very Saxy for what amounted to a jam session. The Penguin Guide to Jazz included "Very Saxy" on its list of suggestions for a core collection of essential jazz albums.

This unique 1958 recording is a collaboration between Coleman Hawkins and the Oscar Peterson Trio. Hawkins's voluminous, supple tenor sax sound, which had a great influence on the styles of musicians ranging from Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins up to Joe Lovano, is best heard on Honey Flower. The album features Ben Webster on tenor sax, Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, Roy Eldridge on trumpet, Hank Jones on piano, George Duvivier on double bass and drummers Alvin Stoller and Mickey Sheen.