Coleman Hawkins - Rainbow Mist - complete solo analysis

I have never done any musical analysis before, well, any written analysis. I hope to explain the harmonic and melodic devices used in this solo.
At the beginning, a short introduction is appropriate, so who is Coleman Hawkins?

Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, generally recognized as the father of the tenor saxophone, as he was the first person to use this horn as a jazz solo instrument, not just a part of vaudeville performances. Hawkins himself is quoted to say the following: "Some people say there was no jazz tenor before me. All I know is I just had a way of playing and I didn't think in terms of any other instrument but the tenor."

This master of improvisation in the early years already showed very advanced harmonic thinking and harmonic approach. It must have partially been derived and inspired by Art Tatum, whom Hawkins admired, but much of it was probably made up by Hawk himself.
One of the biggest breakthrough points in jazz improvisation in terms of using of different approaches (this one leading to bebop) is dated October 11, 1939. On this day Hawkins recorded two choruses of standard pop song Body & Soul. His interpretation ignores most of the melody, thus leaving him enough space to explore harmonic structures of the song, not relying so much on the melody - which is what the bebop musicians later would start to do (partially inspired by Hawk as well).

The song I am using in my analysis was recorded 4&1/2 years later, on February 22, 1944, and is based on the same harmonic structure as standard Body & Soul. And while in Body & Soul from 1939, Hawk still used more space and melody fragments, characteristic for swing improvisation, in Rainbow Mist from the very beginning he is bursting out ideas in double time, leaving spaces only to breathe. Though this masterpiece can be by some regarded as a harmonic exercise of the great tenorman, it for sure does not lack anything musically - it is sophisticated, but also full of soul, heart, it offers great atmosphere and certainly verifies, that Hawk was all worthy to be called the father of the tenor saxophone...

Here is the result.

Following is analysis of tonal/harmonic progressions used by Coleman Hawkins is this solo, 8 measure segments. My goal is to recognize and emphasize Hawk's main techniques he uses throughout this solo.

The song structure is AABA, with chord progressions same as the pop standard Body & Soul. Hawkins' improvisation covers the complete song length (excluding intro and last chord) and consists of 2 choruses and a cadenza at the end.

1st chorus

A1 (measures 1-8): 
- already in the 1st measure Hawk utilizes what was very characteristic for his playing of this "Body&Soul" period, that is using phrases that contain the interval of major 13th and major 9th of the chord, especially in minor chords. By using this he accomplishes a specific color, which sounds very open and vague, but still tonal.
- in measures 2 & 8 he uses another frequent device of his - substituting the V7 for I#7 in a ii-V7-I progression. Going from F-7 through Bb7 he substitutes this chord for E7, clearly using 3rd,5th and 8th to emphasize the chord. This could be perceived as upper structures of Bb7 (b7, b9, #11), but the way Hawk plays it, it is certain, that he is indicating E7, smoothly going into Ebmaj7.
- in measure 8 he uses diminished C#o7th chord in place of C7, leading to F minor.

A2 (measures 9-16):
- in measure 9 he uses maj7 in a minor chord when ascending, while using min7 when descending. This way he is utilizing the leading tones, achieving very natural way to play upward arpeggios.
- in measures 10 & 15 he again uses his trademark - V7 for I#7 substitution, very much in the same manner as previously.
- measure 11 presents a smooth way to achieve transition from the substitution E7 to Ebmaj7 - Hawkins uses the f# (which he used in E7) on the first 2 beats, and then changes the f# to g, thus finally entering the Eb chord.
- first 3 notes in measure 13 present an indirect resolution, leading to f natural.
- measure 13 also contains a natural, even though the chord is f minor - this might be a mistake, but as it is partially a ghost note and an offbeat, it is barely audible. And as Hawk himself said: "If you don't make mistakes, you aren't really trying." :o)


B (measures 17-24):
- measure 17 shows usage of major 13th in a major chord.
- measure 21 presents another smooth and interesting transition, this time form Emaj7 to E-7, Hawk uses g# on an offbeat in the first beat of E-7 chord, inducing a E major 5321 phrase downward, but on the 2nd beat emphasizing g natural, thus arriving to the E minor chord. These types of transitions, which still use tonal material of the previous chord into the new chord, or anticipate the material of next chord in the current chord, add to Hawk's playing the feeling of flowing/flying over changes, as if he was not bound to any bar lines, chords of strict rules. It very much adds feeling of naturalness into his playing.
- measure 23 substitutes A7 for Eb7, again using Eb7 (which is the tritone substitution) as if it was the normal dominant, using natural intervals of Eb, namely major 9th.
- measure 24 is mainly following chord tones, using some passing chromatic notes - interesting fact is, that even though the C7 leads to Fminor, it contains natural 9th (d natural), which as an anticipation can be considered maj13th of the Fminor chord, which Hawk liked to use.

A3 (measures 25-32):
- again there is usage of maj13th in minor chords, namely in measures 25 & 31.
- measure 27 contains an indirect resolution (ab f f# to g, which is the 3rd of the chord).
- measure 29 consists purely (with 1 exception, g natural) of F-7 chord notes, played in arpeggios, but still manages to sound very musical, certainly not like an exercise on chords, which many musicians practice. Here fits Hawk's quote: "I honestly can't characterize my style in words. It seems that whatever comes to me naturally, I play."
- measure 31 presents also previously used suggestion of tritone substitution by using e natural in octaves.

2nd chorus

A1 (measures 33-40):
- measure 33 begins with a little ornament (around f natural), measure 36 repeats this ornament using almost the same notes. Little things like these bring a sense of unity into Hawkins' solos.
- measure 34 uses some chromatic passing tones (b natural, but also the d natural on the beat can be considered a passing tone to note eb) and finishes with already well-known tritone substitution (F- E7 Ebmaj7).
- in measure 36 on the F#o7 diminished Hawk uses the diminished scale WtHt (but with bb instead of b natural), which was later used by modern players such as John Coltrane - very similar to using the diminished axis F#o7 and choosing any of the 4 related chords (Ab7, B7, D7, and in this case F7) to substitute for the diminished.
- measure 39 presents another tritone substitution.

A2 (measures 41-48):
- measure 41 is similar to measure 9 in using the maj7 in minor chord.
- measure 42 presents another tritone substitution, this time very skillfully connected - on 3rd beat there is descending arpeggio consisting of notes of Bb7(b9) - f d b ab, and on 4th beat is another descending arpeggio, beginning half tone higher than the previous - on f#, continuing with the same notes as the previous arpeggio - d b ab. The first one belongs to Bb7(b9), but by just moving one tone a half step higher, the second arpeggio feels as if it belongs to E79 (which is tritone substitution to Bb7).
- measure 44 during F#o7 diminished again utilizes the diminished axis and substitutes for tones of F7 dominant.
- measure 46 contains both a passing note a# and usage of notes from diminished chord (b,g#,d,f).
- measure 47 is another suggestion of tritione substitution.
- measure 48 shows another smooth transition between chords - though the band is already playing F#-7, Hawk still flies through F-79 descending arpeggio and joins the new progression on the 3rd beat with emphasizing B7 chord notes. For Hawk it is vital to really emphasize the new chord after flying through the previous chord through the new progression - to make the transition smooth, he never ends on the first note, but rather emphasizes the chord notes several times before finishing the phrase. This way always sound as if he was really flying, very smoothly. 

B (measures 49-56):
- just as in measure 48, in measure 51 Hawk continues playing the old chord (A-7) when already on E/G#, but to smooth out the transition he continues and emphasizes Emajor9 before moving to F#-7 and B7. For all these techniques that Hawkins uses, it really helps that he plays double time (16ths), so he has enough time and space to execute such progressions.
- at the end of measure 52 he anticipates the following E minor chord by using g natural, even though he is still in Emaj7. The same principle as in other places applies.
- on A7 in measure 53 he uses leading tones to get to Dmaj7 (getting through b nautral, b flat, to a natural).
- in measure 54 there is another anticipation, this time Hawk anticipates Fo7 diminished on beat 2, though the band still plays Dmaj7.
- in measure 55 during A7 he substitutes this for Eb79 (again, by the natural 9th he achieves the feeling of clean substitution, not playing out of the changes)
- during measure 56, which features chords D,Db7,C7, is masterfully filled mostly through a diminished chord on Db7 (with Do7 diminished), and through an indirect resolution on the last beat, which cleanly suggests C7 and leads to F minor 7. Amazing is that even though Hawk uses mostly chord tones here, it doesn't sound empty or mechanical at all.

incomplete A3 (measures 57-62):

- measure 58 is one of the most interesting points in this solo - though the band clearly still plays F-7, Hawkins masterfully anticipates Bb7+5(that's why the f#). Analyzed only by itself it would sound very much out of tune, as f# would be the b9 in the Fminor chord, but looking at this from the point of higher conception/structure, it is one beautiful leading note from f, through f# to g natural, which is the 3rd of following Eb chord.
- measures 57 to 61 should be considered as a 1 big phrase consisting of 3 alike motives, each raising up by a half step (1st one has top on f, 2nd has top on f#, 3rd one has top on g), with the last one resolving to measure 61 - beautiful Fminor 69. One should also notice the bottom held notes, which in measure 58 is f#, in measure 59 is g and in measure 61 is ab, even though held only shortly, compared to the previous bottom notes.
- measure 62 introduces another passing note (from g through f# to f natural), which is exceptional in the fact, that it is 8th,maj7,min7 in the chord G7, as this was later heavily used by the be-boppers, known as the dominant bebop scale. However, Hawkins doesn't choose to continue down the scale but rather uses a descending diminished arpeggio.

cadenza (measures 63-69):
- measures 63 & 64 are a simple progression F-7 Bb7 Eb, spiced up only by another tritone progression, after Bb7 before coming to Eb tonic.
- measure 65 can be explained as a short progression from G-minor (only represented by the first chromatic 4 notes), through F#-713, leading to measure 66, which is (with the exception of the f# passing note) an ordinary F-7.
- measure 67 can be perceived as a Bb7b9 chord, with the ending appearing as a Db7 chord, but in fact it could simply be a Bb7b9#9 chord, so Hawk could also think this as an alteration.
- measure 68 does not  represent anything extraordinary, it is a simple F-7 Bb7b9 Eb ending with few passing notes, landing majestically on the tonic of the whole song, Eb. At this time the orchestra joins and finishes with a powerful Eb major chord.

This brings me to the end of my analysis. The main trademarks of Hawk's style that one could notice in this performance are:
1. the tritone substitutions, which Hawkins usually applies by playing the chord triad with the natural 9 of the substitution chord.
2. the anticipation (which means playing the following chord, when still the former one is being played by the band), or its opposite (that means staying on the previous chord even though the band already plays the new chord). Importantly, Hawkins always emphasizes the final chord before finishing the phrase, so that the transition has the feeling of smoothness and naturalness.
3. usage of diminished seventh chords a halfstep higher in place of dominant chords (simply the maj3,pefect5,min7,min9 of the dominant chord).

However, even though Coleman Hawkins is greatly ahead of his time with usage of these harmonic and melodic devices, the main importance stays on his ability to create the atmosphere of carefree swinging even when it sounds that he is playing simple straight notes, and his facility of his technique and his huge full sound on the tenor saxophone, which enforces a feeling of great authority, almost a noble-like appearance.

Hawk himself once said "I made the tenor sax - there's nobody plays like me and I don't play like anybody else."
These words are very true even now, 66 years after this recording, even now, 41 years after his death.

Nobody can play like Hawk, only Hawk himself.