Hawkins, Erskine

▪ 1994

      U.S. bandleader and trumpeter (b. July 26, 1914, Birmingham, Ala.—d. Nov. 11, 1993, Willingboro, N.J.), headed a popular swing band in the 1930s and '40s. He took up music as a child and graduated (1934) from Alabama State Teachers College, where he played in the student band. As the 'Bama State Collegians, this orchestra made its debut in New York City in the mid-1930s. Eventually becoming known as the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, in 1936 it began a decade-long engagement at the Savoy Ballroom in New York; radio broadcasts and recordings during this period made it one of the most popular of all swing bands. Hawkins, who was famous for his high notes on trumpet, was often called the "20th-century Gabriel." In the 1950s he began to work with smaller groups, and during his later years he sometimes played rhythm and blues. His best-known composition, "Tuxedo Junction," referred to a suburb of Birmingham.

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