Born in Saint Joseph, Missouri, Coleman Hawkins got his first saxophone at age nine and was traveling coast to coast, recording with Mamie Smith and the Jazz Hounds while still in his teens. Credited with making the sax a solo jazz instrument, "Hawk" was the dominant jazz saxophonist for four decades, through the periods of hot jazz, swing and bop, fronting his own bands and working with all the greats including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. With his distinctive, full-bodied sound, Coleman Hawkins' recordings remain revered today by jazz lovers around the world.