The Lost 1950 Munich Concert

Previously unreleased live archive recordings from the Jazz great. In late 1949 and early 1950, the great Coleman Hawkins toured Europe playing with an All Star group that included fellow Americans James Moody, Kenny Clarke, and Nat Peck, plus prestigious European jazzmen such as Hubert Fol, Pierre Michelot, and Jean-Paul Mengeon. Fortunately, two concerts by this group were preserved for posterity: A set in Lausanne, Switzerland, recorded on December 3, 1949, and this German performance at Munich's Deutsche's Museum, which appears here for the first time ever on any format. Among the various highlights are Hawkins' driving 'Rifftide' (a reworking of 'Oh, Lady be Good'), 'Stuffy' and 'Disorder at the Border.' 'Sophisticated Lady' is a great ballad feature for Hawkins, and 'Body and Soul' was readily expected by audiences after his famous 1939 recording became a landmark.