Customer Reviews

The Centennial Collection (Bonus DVD)

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Hawkins is one of the greatest musicians America has produced. This is a worthy collection for someone who is new to his work. It has two versions of his breathtaking Body and Soul. It is splendid to see Hawkins, and other fantastic players, on the DVD, but BMG should be ashamed at the way this product is packaged. it's disgusting that they couldn't be bothered to identify the personnel on the DVD, and this Centennial series is a bit of a laugh: it offers a single CD where a dozen are deserved. If Jazz records sold well I'm sure they would give us more elaborate products. Think of this as simply a pretentiously packed "best of" disk.

Compiling Hawk is no easy task considering the total output.. capturing a legend on 1 disc is an impossible task but you get 2 versions of Body and Soul(1939 and 1956)..the rest of the tracks spans his history with minor attention paid to the Beebop years(get Propers Box Set) and the remaining tracks on the CD has fine sounding sides from the early Mound City Blowers(1929),Fletcher Henderson(Hocus Poocus) ,Lionel Hampton tracks(one with Dizzy) and tracks from the 40's and 50's..overall a good listen..The DVD is very good featuting TV performances from the 1950's, a rare treat capturing great Jazz Men..Hawk's presence shines forth with his cool regal demeanor..worth the price of the set alone.

Heard Terri Gross on NPR discussing this album back when it came out and decided to purchase it after hearing some of the samples on air. An excellent piece of work. We need more musicians like him in the mainstream.