Erskine Ramsay Hawkins (July 26, 1914 – November 11, 1993) was an American trumpeter and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

leader from

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is best remembered for composing the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

standard "

Tuxedo Junction "Tuxedo Junction" is a popular song written by Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson, and Julian Dash with lyrics by Buddy Feyne. The song was introduced by Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra, a college dance band previously known as the Bama State Collegi ...

" (1939) with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson. The song became a hit during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, rising to No. 7 nationally (version by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra) and to No. 1 nationally (version by the Glenn Miller Orchestra). Vocalists who were featured with Erskine's orchestra include Ida James, Delores Brown, and

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

. Hawkins was named after Alabama industrialist

Erskine Ramsay Erskine Ramsay (September 24, 1864 – August 15, 1953) was an Alabama industrialist. Biography He was born September 24, 1864 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. His family came from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland the same town as Andrew Carnegie. ...

Early years

Erskine Hawkins was named by his parents after Alabama industrialist Erskine Ramsay who was rewarding parents with savings accounts for them for doing so. Hawkins attended Councill Elementary School and Industrial High School (now known as Parker High School) in

. At Industrial High School, he played in the band directed by Fess Whatley, a teacher who taught many African-American musicians, many of whom worked with such musicians as Duke Ellington,

Lucky Millinder Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder (August 8, 1910 – September 28, 1966) was an American swing and rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical ...

, Louis Armstrong and

Skitch Henderson Lyle Russel "Skitch" Henderson (January 27, 1918 – November 1, 2005) was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname "Skitch" came from his ability to "re-sketch" a song in a different key. Bing Crosby suggested that he should use the ...

(of the NBC Orchestra).

Headliner years

During 1936 through 1938, Hawkins recorded for

Vocalion Records Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

as "Erskine Hawkins and his 'Bama State Collegians". In 1938, he signed with RCA Victor and began recording on their Bluebird label as, simply, "Erskine Hawkins and His Orchestra". In the late 1930s, Hawkins and his Orchestra were one of the house bands at the

Savoy Ballroom The Savoy Ballroom was a large ballroom for music and public dancing located at 596 Lenox Avenue, between 140th and 141st Streets in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Lenox Avenue was the main thoroughfare through upper Harlem ...

. They alternated with the Chick Webb band, and often used "

" as their sign-off song before the next band would take the stage, so that the dancing would continue uninterrupted. Hawkins also engaged in "battles of the bands" with such bandleaders as Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, and Lionel Hampton. In 1943, a Hawkins concert caused trouble in Little Rock, Arkansas: "3,000 Negroes jammed into the Exhibition Hall to dance to the music of Hawkins and his crew became unruly and began to push white police all over the floor. Police brandished their guns and blackjacks and attempted to quiet the crowd--but only after Hawkins and his boys broke into the national anthem did the dancers settle down." A city "ban on dances for Negroes" followed the event, meaning that "bookers of Negro orchestras for dances here may just as well take up another profession." In the mid 1940s, he was transferred to the main RCA Victor label, recording many of his greatest hits for both labels during this decade. He remained with them until 1950 when he switched over to

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head of ...

. He continued to record for many years.

Later years

Hawkins was trumpeter and band leader in the lobby bar and show nightclub at The

Concord Resort Hotel The Concord Resort Hotel (pronounced KAHN-cord, ()) was a resort in the Borscht Belt of the Catskills, known for its large resort industry in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Located in Kiamesha Lake, New York, United States, the Concord was the larges ...

Kiamesha Lake, New York Kiamesha Lake is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the town of Thompson, in east-central Sullivan County, New York, United States. The zip code for Kiamesha Lake is 12751. Kiamesha Lake is located on Route 42, between Monticello and Fa ...

from 1967 to 1993 with his last performing group Joe Vitale (piano), Dudly Watson (bass), Sonny Rossi (vocals and clarinet), and George Leary (drums). Hawkins died at his home in Willingboro Township, New Jersey, in November 1993, at the age of 79. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, alongside his sister, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Personal life

Flo Hawkins, who appeared in the 1946 film ''

That Man of Mine That Man of Mine is an American film released in 1946. Directed by Leonard Anderson, it features an African-American cast. According to the ''New York Times'', the all female group The International Sweethearts of Rhythm features in "sever ...

'', was his wife. They eventually became estranged and she worked in

The Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a Physiographic regions of the world, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York (state), New York. As a cultural and geographic region, ...

Induction into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame

In 1978, Erskine Hawkins became one of the first five artists inducted into the

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (AJHF) was founded in 1978, and opened a museum on September 18, 1993, with a mission "to foster, encourage, educate, and cultivate a general appreciation of the medium of jazz music as a legitimate, original and dis ...

. In 1989, he was inducted into the

Alabama Music Hall of Fame The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, first conceived by the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Muscle Shoals Music Association in the early 1980s, was created by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board, which then saw to its Phase One construction of a facility ...

. Hawkins was a contemporary of another Birmingham jazz musician,

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

Chart singles

References

External links

Erskine Hawkins biography
at the

website * Erskine Hawkins biographyat Allmusic.com
Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tapes #010 & 011
- Discovers Erskine Hawkins with TB in sanatorium, forms band at 27:00 minutes {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Erskine 1914 births 1993 deaths Big band bandleaders Swing bandleaders Swing trumpeters African-American jazz musicians Alabama State University alumni American jazz bandleaders Songwriters from Alabama American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters African-American jazz composers RCA Victor artists Musicians from Birmingham, Alabama People from Willingboro Township, New Jersey 20th-century jazz composers 20th-century trumpeters Songwriters from New Jersey 20th-century American composers Jazz musicians from Alabama American male jazz composers American jazz composers 20th-century American male musicians Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama) African-American songwriters 20th-century African-American musicians American male songwriters