Tenor saxist Coleman Hawkins, who appears on the reissue of Juanita Hall's Sings the Blues, rightly has been admired for being open to the innovations of younger musicians. During the mid-1940s he recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Howard McGhee, and Fats Navarro. Beyond that, he incorporated bop ideas into his vocabulary, which made a lot of sense since harmonically, he anticipated the bop movement. Hawkins had no problem fitting into bop and post-bop contexts. Vocalist Hall, who studied at Julliard and made a name for herself by playing Bloody Mary in South Pacific, proves to be a powerful, contralto, Bessie Smith-influenced singer. Hawkins, however, provides the album's most interesting moments, despite the brevity of his solos. He double-times frequently, eats up the changes, and produces a full, dark tone. Trumpeter Doc Cheatham, clarinetist Buster Bailey, and bassist George Duvivier provide fine additional instrumental work.