Mary Lou Williams in City of Kansas City - 1934

from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, pages 292-293:

We could play all morning and half through the day if we wished to, and in fact we often did. The music was so good that I seldom got to bed before midday.

It was just such a late morning session that once had Coleman Hawkins hung up. [...]

The date must have been 1934 because Prohibition had been lifted and whisky was freely on sale.[...]

The word went round that Hawkins was in the Cherry Blossom, and within about half an hour there were Lester Young, Ben Webster, Herschel Evans, Herman Walder, and one or two unknown tenors piling in the club to blow.

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cite as

Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro, Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It (London, 1992), p. 292-293. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1435759730469 accessed: 28 March, 2024

location of experience: City of Kansas City

Listeners

Mary Lou Williams
jazz pianist, Composer, Pianist
1910-1981

Listening to

hide composers
tenor saxophone music performed by Herman Walder, Herschel Evans, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Ben Webster

Experience Information

Date/Time 1934
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Notes

Mary Lou Williams, a jazz pianist, describes how Coleman Hawkins was unexpectedly caught out in a cutting session - a jazz playing contest - in Kansas City, Missouri.


Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Wed, 01 Jul 2015 15:08:50 +0100
Approved on Wed, 31 Aug 2016 10:15:23 +0100