AMG Review of Masters of Jazz, Vol. 12

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

A very interesting release, this set has a version of "Honeysuckle Rose" from a Hawkins session in 1954 that usually gets left out of reissues (it was originally released in a sampler), four numbers from a live date in Europe that matches his tenor with a superb rhythm section (pianist Bud Powell, bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke) and two songs from what probably was Hawkins's final studio session. Despite being very ill, he is in surprisingly strong form on the latter (from February 1968), easily playing with more fire and strength than he had in 1966 on Sirius, his last complete album.