Two days before the calendar changed to 1961, two tenor saxophonists were in Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey recording an album. The two saxophonists were Coleman Hawkins (the session leader) and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and the record they were making was “Night Hawk,” which was released on the Prestige/Swingville label in 1961.

The album consists of five tracks with one original, the title track written by Hawkins. Playing alongside the two saxmen are pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Gus Johnson. allmusic.com has awarded the record four stars and their reviewer wrote that “Hawkins was one of the main inspirations of his fellow tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, so it was logical that they would one day meet up in the recording studio. This album has many fine moments from these two highly competitive jazzmen.”

Here is a cut from the record “Night Hawk” recorded 65 years ago today:

"NIGHT HAWK"