Born in 1904, Coleman Hawkins started out playing the piano and cello. He started playing tenor saxophone at 9 and was playing at school dances when he was 12. That means he was doing gigs in 1916. That’s a long time ago. (Leave it to me to be blown away by the obvious.)

Coleman Hawkins is considered a jazz pioneer on the tenor. Before him the tenor saxophone was not taken seriously as an instrument. It was considered to be a clown’s instrument and was mostly played in vaudeville shows.

This is a television performance he made in the 1960’s.