In spring 1963, when Coleman Hawkins was 58 and making some of the most astonishing music of his career, he gave a short but revealing interview to DownBeat. The virtuoso who invented jazz on the tenor saxophone in the 1920s notes that he had been recording recently with cats on the cutting edge like Max Roach, Eric Dolphy, and their ilk.
“You know, the young ones get confused about me being able to play with them,” Hawkins bellowed. “I don’t know why. … Hell, I was listening to Stravinsky when I was a kid. You got to. It’s not a question of being modern. It’s
