Here we have the Hawk performing “Drifting on a Reed” by Walter Thomas – not to be confused with the Charlie Parker composition that Bird would record three years later.
The composition starts with a descending piano line played by the young Thelonious Monk, who is appearing here on his first commercial recording.
Monk had been previously recorded in 1941-42 during jam sessions at Minton’s Playhouse by Columbia University’s student radio station WKCR by Jerry Newman. Newman recorded tunes on a portable Wilcox-Gay Recordio “disc cutter” that made recordings directly onto acetate discs and then ran them over to the radio station where they were broadcast.
While we hear a brief moment of Monk at the intro, for most of the record, Monk takes an accompanist’s role and just lets Hawk blow.
It’s clear from listening to Hawk’s lush breathy tone what Miles Davis was talking about when he said that “When I heard Hawk, I learned to play ballads.”
The Joe Davis label was created in 1945 by the music producer of the same name. They published jazz 78s in 1945-46 before changing the name to simply the Davis label.
Recorded in New York City on October 19, 1944.
Released as Joe Davis 8250.
Coleman Hawkins – tenor sax
Thelonious Monk – piano
Edward “Basie” Robinson – bass
Denzil Decosta Best – drums
To hear the Charlie Parker tune “Drifting on a Reed” from 1947:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcAqmLmzn9Q