Coleman Hawkins's first recording of Body and Soul on October 11, 1939 was a landmark moment for jazz. The tenor saxophonist played the standard but, from the start, he re-interpreted it using the song's chords but playing around the melody.
What sounded like improvisation was actually worked out in advance by Hawkins, but the fact that he had turned a familiar pop song into something new on the tenor saxophone was remarkable at the time.
Of course, plenty of saxophonists had taken improvised solos prior, but these "solos" were only a few measures long or written out for them. What Hawkins did is pave the way for extended saxophone improvisation.
In February 1963, Hawkins was on tour in Europe when he appeared at the Metropol jazz club in Oslo, Norway. There, he was captured on camera performing Body and Soul with his singular, long streams of ideas.
Here's the video clip of Hawkins playing a 10-plus minute Body and Soul solo backed by Einar Iversen (p), Jarle Krogstad, (b) and Ole Jacob Hansen (d)...
