Even though this record hasn’t exactly been the darling of critics or fans, I think it’s worth putting down concerns about the progression of jazz and simply enjoy this album for what it is. Smack and booze ended Charlie Parker’s life just three years prior and Ornette Coleman’s prophetic The Shape of Jazz to Come was released around the same time. Soul, on the other hand, is a very subdued, dialed back record. It’s as if the aging Hawkins needed a reprieve from the frenetic Bird bebop solos… and time has been unfair to non-pioneering works from this era. On Soul, Hawkins doesn’t only dial back the bebop but he also dials back a lot of the swing to basic blues. Here we are some sixty years later and I’m going to say it: It’s a really ****ing good blues record. Kenny Burrell’s guitar work is especially smoking. It’s a great showcase of one of the greatest guitarists from that era. Also, the significance of Greensleeves shouldn’t be lost on Coltrane fans as the song appeared on Coltrane’s Africa/Brass reworked by McCoy Tyner a couple years later.
It helps to have a bit of a timeline to understand where an album like this fits in. Instead of release dates of certain recordings, which I understand is ultimately the most important factor, it’s also interesting to consider the dates of birth of seminal
men.
Coleman Hawkins: 1904
Charlie Parker: 1920
John Coltrane: 1926
Sonny Rollins & Ornette Coleman: 1930
Warmth Highest 