Things Ain't What They Used to Be (Prestige Swing Festival album)

Things Ain't What They Used to Be
Things Ain't What They Used to Be
Studio album by The First Annual Prestige Swing Festival
Released	1961
Recorded	April 14 and May 19, 1961
Studio	Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre	Jazz
Length	79:00
Label	Swingville; SV 4001 (SVLP 2024/25)
Producer	Esmond Edwards
Coleman Hawkins chronology
Al Sears chronology
Jimmy Hamilton chronology
Single LP Cover
Years Ago Cover

Things Ain't What They Used to Be is an album by the First Annual Prestige Swing Festival featuring two all-star groups, one including Coleman Hawkins, Hilton Jefferson, Jimmy Hamilton and Joe Newman and the other led by Al Sears with Buddy Tate, Pee Wee Russell and Joe Thomas which was recorded in 1961 and first released on the Swingville label as a double album before being reissued as two single discs with Hawkins name prominently displayed; Things Ain't What They Used to Be and Years Ago.^[1]^[2] All tracks were also reissued as Jam Session in Swingville which was credited to Hawkins and Russell.

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states: "The music, which is performed by two all-star groups with arrangements by either Jimmy Hamilton or Al Sears, is generally modern swing ... Nothing all that memorable or innovative occurs, but the performances are enjoyable".^[3]

Track listing[]

Disc One: Things Ain't What They Used to Be (SVLP 2024)

"Things Ain't What They Used to Be" (Mercer Ellington, Ted Persons) – 6:48
"Spring's Swing" (Vivian Hamilton) – 7:55
"Phoenix" (Al Sears) – 7:16
"Love Me or Leave Me" (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn) – 7:16
"I May Be Wrong But I Think You're Wonderful" (Henry Sullivan, Harry Ruskin) – 6:33
"Vic's Spot" (Vic Dickenson) – 3:56

Disc Two: Years Ago (SVLP 2025)

"So Glad" (Al Sears) – 5:33
"Cool Sunrise" (Esmond Edwards) – 10:41
"I Want to Be Happy" (Vincent Youmans, Irving Caesar) – 2:44
"Jammin' in Swingville" (Hamilton) – 9:32
"Years Ago" (Dan Jones) 10:02

Personnel[]

Disc One, tracks 2 & 4 and Disc Two, tracks 2 & 4

Disc One, tracks 1, 3, 5 & 6 and Disc Two, tracks 1 & 5

Al Sears – tenor saxophone, arranger
Joe Thomas – trumpet
Vic Dickenson – trombone
Pee Wee Russell – clarinet
Buddy Tate – tenor saxophone
Cliff Jackson – piano
Danny Barker – guitar
Joe Benjamin – bass
J. C. Heard – drums

Disc Two, track 3

Cliff Jackson – piano
Joe Benjamin – bass
J. C. Heard – drums

References[]

^ Prestige Records discography. Retrieved March 15, 2013
^ Coleman Hawkins Discography. Retrieved May 9, 2019
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Yanow, Scott. Coleman Hawkins: Jam Session in Swingville: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved May 8, 2019.

[1] Prestige Records discography. Retrieved March 15, 2013

[2] Coleman Hawkins Discography. Retrieved May 9, 2019

[Allmusic-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Yanow, Scott. Coleman Hawkins: Jam Session in Swingville: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved May 8, 2019.

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[2]

[3]

show v t Coleman Hawkins
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Albums as leader or co-leader	Body and Soul (1939–56)/The Hawk in Hi Fi (1956) Disorder at the Border (1952) The Hawk Talks (1952–53) The Hawk Returns (released 1954) Timeless Jazz (1954) Accent on Tenor Sax (1955) The Hawk in Paris (1956) The Gilded Hawk (1956–57) Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster (1957) The Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Pete Brown, Jo Jones All Stars at Newport (1957) The Genius of Coleman Hawkins (1957) The Hawk Flies High (1957) Bean Bags (and Milt Jackson, 1958) Coleman Hawkins and Confrères (1958) Soul (1958) The High and Mighty Hawk (1958) The Saxophone Section (1958) Coleman Hawkins with the Red Garland Trio (1959) Hawk Eyes (1959) Coleman Hawkins All Stars (with Vic Dickenson and Joe Thomas, 1959) Very Saxy (and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Buddy Tate, Arnett Cobb, 1959) At Ease with Coleman Hawkins (1960) Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra (1960) Night Hawk (and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, 1960) The Hawk Swings (1960) Jazz Reunion (and Pee Wee Russell, 1961) The Hawk Relaxes (1961) Back in Bean's Bag (and Clark Terry, 1962) Bluesy Burrell (with Kenny Burrell, 1962) Coleman Hawkins Plays Make Someone Happy from Do Re Mi (1962) Desafinado (1962) Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins (1962) Good Old Broadway (1962) Hawkins! Alive! At the Village Gate (1962) Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive! At the Village Gate! (1962) The Jazz Version of No Strings (1962) Today and Now (1962) Sonny Meets Hawk! (and Sonny Rollins, 1963) Wrapped Tight (1965) The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World (multiple leaders, 1967)
With others	Further Definitions (Benny Carter, 1951) All the Cats Join In (Buck Clayton, 1953–56) Jumpin' at the Woodside (Buck Clayton, 1954–55) The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (Dizzy Gillespie, 1939) Blues Groove (Tiny Grimes, 1958) At Newport '63 (Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan, 1963) Straight Ahead (Abbey Lincoln, 1961) 2-3-4 (Shelly Manne, 1962) Monk's Music (Thelonious Monk, 1957) Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (also Hawkins, 1957) We Insist! (Max Roach, 1960) Ben Webster and Associates (1959) Live at the Five Spot (Randy Weston, 1959) At Newport '63 (Joe Williams, 1963)