Though from the start, they had John Coltrane on the books for the final six years of his short life, Impulse wasn't by any stretch of the imagination a one-artist label.

With its distinctive orange, black and white livery, sturdy gatefold sleeves, Rudy Van Gelder often rolling the tapes and an artist roster that embraced everyone from Ray Charles, Gil Evans and Oliver Nelson through to Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler and Pharoah Sanders, Impulse set standards that ranked it alongside Blue Note as a label of quality. Now much of its back catalogue is being reissued at mid-price two LPs-on-one-CD packages (two-for-a-tenner at HMV). Which brings us to the great master, Coleman Hawkins who, just short of his 60th birthday, recorded these two albums back to back. While Today And Now is brimful of genuine humour (‘Go L’il Liza’), heartfelt passion (‘Love Song From Apache’), and yesteryears blues blowing (‘Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet’), the Bossa Nova session (Desafinado) gives the impression of being an afterthought. It's not that it's bad – the accompaniment is fine, especially from the two guitarists – it's just that there are too many moments where it appears to lack total commitment. But to return to the magnificent Today And Now date. There's a dreamy edge to Hawkins’ distinctive sound as he approaches each selection at a comfortable pace that suggests he has time to spare. Much of this can be attributed to the tremendous support from the Tommy Flanagan-led rhythm section that allows him to glide along effortlessly from start to finish in timeless fashion. Fact: Coleman Hawkins was one of a select group of artists who never went out of fashion. Even Lester Young bowed to Hawkins' supremacy, so who am I to argue!