Coleman Hawkins, “The Man I Love,” Victor (US), Label # DC-TC-400-1A, 12” Test Pressing, Year Unknown.

Test pressings were made for assessment purposes before a given record was mass produced. They were also given to artists and staff members as favors. This record contains a song on one side and RCA VICTOR embossed on the other side with a spider-web pattern.

“The Man I Love” is a jazz standard written by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, but Hawkins’s recording is a solo on saxophone. Hawkins is often credited for popularizing the tenor saxophone as a jazz instrument because of his powerful and original style. He took influence in his playing from many non-saxophonists, such as Louis Armstrong’s trumpet playing and the harmonic ideas of Art Tatum’s.

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