Hank Crawford is a tenor sax man you can instantly recognize, that's because his sound is so uniquely different from all the other tenor sax men; they also like his unique and pleasing sound. The first time I heard him, thoughts of Ray Charles came to mind, and I didn't know why; he was Ray Charles musical director from 1959 until 1963.
"Angel Eyes" has been one of my favorite tunes for ages, but when I heard Hank's version, I realized this was the first time I'd heard Angel Eyes. It seems to have a deep melancholy sadness, and longing for the lost love of "Angel Eyes"; this song has come to life in the guise of a captivating women with angel eyes whose spell can not be broken, and it leaves all her lovers to long for the hypnotic gaze of her very special "angel eyes".
His versions of other standards have a uniqueness I can't quite define; consequently I'm left with a new word, "Crawfordesque", there is no other way to describe the sound he gives to standards.
I have here a package of my favorite tunes by Hank that I found on "you tube"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHdrtdqKkeM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dMcpgEt0AA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSHMRyY5Drk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Cx8Tk4MiwEnjoy the music.