In the constant pursuit of the new, it’s easy to forget/ignore yesterday – in this instance the great Coleman Hawkins. This comes from a period in his career when he was enjoying a second breath. The Hawk was one of those artists who didn’t have to reinvent himself in order to accommodate the wind of change. Coleman Hawkins was always contemporary and capable of holding his own in mixed company, be it moody after hours R&B with Kenny Burrell (‘Soul Blues’) or a lengthy rockin’ Central Avenue strut with Tiny Grimes (‘Marchin’ Along’) during which the venerated sax man lets rip in true cutting contest style. Elsewhere, when Charlie Shavers unpacks his trumpet for the Hawk Eyes sessions, things quickly move up a gear. These three CDs comprise four original LPs from the Prestige stable (all recorded by Rudy Van Gelder) namely Soul, Blues Groove, Hawk Eyes and Stasch plus a further six tracks from Newport 1957 and another two from Newport 1959 on which Roy Eldridge is his on-form front line foil. Meanwhile, Hawk’s brief interpretation of ‘Moonglow’ during the ’57 Newport ballad medley is nothing less than sublime. In closing, I once had the privilege of watching Hawk warming up backstage with Sonny Stitt, Roy Eldridge and Dizzy at a JATP event. As they swapped licks with one another in rapid succession they constantly looked to Hawk for his approval affirming in their eyes that indeed he was The Man.