At Ease (RVG Remaster)

This is not an essential album, in any usual sense. It is a simple program of eight relaxed numbers, some well-known standards, some bygone obscurities. It is also one of the great, unheralded ballad albums in jazz. With more than 30 years in music under his belt, Hawkins had left an indelible mark on the jazz landscape long before he recorded At Ease in January of 1960. But with nothing to prove, the tenor master swings and sways with supreme grace and sophistication, playing with pure pleasure and seeming effortlessness. Burly yet nimble, tender yet mischievous, Hawkins’s saxophone is a delight to behold as it caresses these musty old melodies, backed by a rhythm section featuring the elegant accompanist Tommy Flanagan on piano (an asset to any ballad album). With only Flanagan behind him, Hawkins affectionately plays the intro to “For You, For Me, For Evermore” before the rest of the quartet establishes a gently loping rhythm. Hawkins is deep and soulful, then lilting and bright, notes exquisitely cascading from his horn. Taken at a true ballad tempo, “Then I’ll Be Tired of You” finds the wily veteran at his most affecting as he balances downy flurries of notes with slow, passionate moans. On “Mighty Like a Rose,” merely his delicate, evocative statement of the melody can send shivers.