While no one disputes the fact that Coleman Hawkins was the first boss of the tenor saxophone, having literally defined the instrument's role in jazz, it has been widely argued that he wasn't a particularly great blues player. Reissue producer Ed Michel, in his notes to this collection of 1957-60 Hawkins blues performances from the vaults of the Riverside and Prestige labels, argues to the contrary. The music contained herein speaks volumes in support of Michel's thesis, as the grand old man of the tenor (then in his late fifties) applies his muscular tone and arpeggio-dripping imagination to nine wailing examples of America's root song form.

with Pepper Adams, Art Blakey, Ray Bryant, Kenny Burrell, Ron Carter, Arnett Cobb, John Coltrane, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, George Duvivier, Tommy Flanagan, Red Garland, Gigi Gryce, J.J. Johnson, Hank Jones, Jo Jones, Oscar Pettiford, Jerome Richardson, Shirley Scott, Idrees Sulieman, Buddy Tate, Wilbur Ware, Doug Watkins