In the mid-1930s, just as the jazz trumpet was becoming popular in the swing era, Erskine Hawkins formed his 'Bama State Collegians in Montgomery, Ala. The band would go on to create a new two-step swing that was more relaxed than the quickened tempos suitable for the Fox Trot and the Savoy Walk. Born in Birmingham, Ala., Hawkins started playing the drums and trombone as a child before switching to trumpet at age 13. In 1930, when he was 16, he graduated from Birmingham Industrial High School and relocated to Montgomery to attend Alabama State Teachers College on a tennis scholarship. He soon switched his major to music.
Hawkins's newly formed swing band traveled to New York in 1934, where he played many of Harlem's popular ballrooms, including the Savoy, where he alternated with Chick Webb as the house band. In 1938, Hawkins signed with RCA Bluebird, the country's most prominent swing label at the time. No easy task for an African-American band. He also had the chops to be dubbed the "20th Century Gabriel" by RCA. Three of his records became sizable hits—Tuxedo Junction (1939), which he co-wrote; After Hours (1940), composed by Avery Parish; and Bobby Smith's Tippin' In (1945).
Tuxedo Junction was named for the intersection of Ensley Avenue and 19th Street in the Ensley suburb of Birmingham and the center of African-American nightlife there back in the 1930s. It also was the name of one of the neighborhood's clubs. The loping swing of Hawkins's band was flavored by his sidemen, most notably Wilbur "Dud" Bascomb on trumpet and his brother Paul, who played high on the register of his tenor saxophone. For example, it was Wilbur's opening trumpet solo on Tuxedo Junction that caught the ear of Glenn Miller. And Parish's piano opens After Hours.
Both the RCA contract and Hawkins's Gabriel moniker tell us his band was highly disciplined and superbly rehearsed, thanks in part to steady work at the Savoy. Further evidence of the band's sleek professionalism can be found on its first two recording sessions in 1938, which produced an impressive 12 masters, a challenge for any band. Arrangements for Hawkins's band jumped easy with a simmering two-step coolness. If you listen carefully to his recordings, you can hear the emergence of what would become the stroll in the 1950s.
Hawkins's unique approach to swing is neatly illustrated on The Hawk Blows at Midnight, a quintet album for Decca in 1960. The group featured Erskine Hawkins (tp), Bobby Smith (as), Ernie Hayes (p), Leroy Kirkland (g), Lloyd Trotman (b) and Shep Shepherd (d). Songs featured are Tuxedo Junction, Love Is Here to Stay, Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat, Midnight Stroll, Blue Embers, Things Ain't What They Used to Be, Cherry, The Birth of the Blues, Tippin' In, If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight), Deep Purple and Hawkin' Around.
As critic Leonard Featured wrote in the album's liner notes:
Summing up his feelings about the album, Erskine commented after listening to a playback: "After so many years of recording with a big band, I was a little concerned about how my first album with a small combo would turn out. I must admit I'm very happy."
For those unfamiliar with Hawkins, this album is a good starting place. It showcases the trumpeter, free from other trumpeters in his big bands and out in the open where we can hear his sound and articulation. Then you can jump back to 1936 and move forward with Hawkins's big-band recordings.
Erskine Hawkins died in 1993.
JazzWax tracks: Erskine Hawkins's The Hawk Blows at Midnight doesn't appear to be available as a digital download or CD. You'll find the vinyl LP at eBay.
You'll also find many Hawkins early collections at Spotify.
JazzWax clip: Here's the entire The Hawk Blows at Midnight at YouTube. Just let it play...
