Education
Hawkins attended Councill Elementary School and Industrial High School (now known as Parker High School) in Birmingham, Alabama.
composer conductor jazz musician
Hawkins attended Councill Elementary School and Industrial High School (now known as Parker High School) in Birmingham, Alabama.
He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" (1939) with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson. The song became a popular hit during World World War II, rising to Number. 7 nationally (version by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra) and to Number.
1 nationally (version by the Glenn Miller Orchestra).
Vocalists who were featured with Erskine"s orchestra include Ida James, Delores Brown and Della Reese. Hawkins was named after Alabama industrialist Erskine Ramsay.
During 1936 through 1938, he recorded for Vocalion Records as "Erskine Hawkins and his "Bama State Collegians". In 1938, he signed with Radio Corporation of America Victor Records 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.
They alternated with the Chick Webb band, and often used Tuxedo Junction 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 the mid 1940s, he was transferred to the main Radio Corporation of America 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.
He continued to record for many years. Hawkins was trumpeter and band leader in the lobby bar and show nightclub at The Concord Resort Hotel in Kiamesha Lake, New York from 1967 to 1993 with his last performing group Joe Vitale piano, Dudly Watson bass, Sonny Rossi vocals & clarinet, and George Leary drums.
In 1978, Erskine Hawkins became one of the first five artists inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1989, he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
Hawkins was a contemporary of another Birmingham jazz musician, Sun Ra.
The story of the Hawkins legacy continues to be told today, during tours of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Museum, by Ray Reach (Director of Student Jazz Programs) and Frank Adams, (Director of Education, Emeritus) at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. On his final Sunday night radio show (July 26, 2009) Malcolm Laycock celebrated the 95th anniversary of Hawkins" birth, by featuring music performed by Hawkins.