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Title
The Essential Charlie Parker
Artist
Charlie Parker |
Format: CD
Cat. No.: METRDCD531
Barcode: 698458703125
Playing Time: CD1 59:47 CD2 58:03
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The Essential Charlie Parker presents, session by session, 40 tracks from Bird’s vital years when jazz’s most glittering instrumental genius was making music at the cutting edge of 1940s modernism that continues to inspire and dazzle each new generation of musician and listener.
See Reviews |
Track List
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| 9 |
Scrapple From The Apple | |
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| 13 |
How Deep Is The Ocean? | |
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Though Charles ‘Yardbird’ Parker died nearly 50 years ago, the allure of his musical legacy remains as strong as ever. His fiery virtuosity epitomises jazz instrumental prowess as art. His music, his beautiful, brilliant Bebop - so-called by journalists as an onomatopoeic approximation of the surprising, abrupt intervals the music sometimes favoured - was music made not just for people to jive to (the burden of so much music of the Swing Era), but music made for its own sake for the listening world to wonder at, to be ‘sent’ by. That the man who made this music was dead by 35 years old - a victim of his own excessive habits and self-destructive tendencies - makes Parker a figure of legendary proportions.
Here we present, session by session, 40 tracks from Bird’s vital years when jazz’s most glittering instrumental genius was blithely recording ‘exclusively’ for two different record companies on two U.S. coasts, making music at the cutting edge of 1940s modernism that continues to inspire and dazzle each new generation of musician and listener.
CD1:
Charlie Parker’s Reboppers: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis/Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Argonne Thornton (piano), Curly Russell (bass), Max Roach (drums). NYC, 26th November 1945.
1. Now's The Time
2. Ko-Ko
3. Billie's Bounce
4. Warmin' Up a Riff
5. Meandering
6. Thrivin' On A Riff
Parker had already been heard on “Salt Peanuts” and “Shaw ‘Nuff”, Dizzy Gillespie’s astonishing proto-bop sides from May 1945 all jittering stop-start kicks, twisting tunes played at immense speed and short, daring, explosively chromatic improvisations; there was a hint of novelty about the overt virtuosity of the sides but this music was hip, hearty and for the many hapless musicians who felt themselves virtually redundant overnight, plain hurtful.
This session was Parker’s first date as leader of a quintet (on New York’s Savoy label) and featured a 19-year-old Julliard drop-out called Miles Davis on trumpet. Diz came along for moral support and to comp some spiky piano chords behind Parker’s blues vehicles “Now’s The Time” -a simple Kansas City riff later grotesquely adapted as the R&B pop tune “The Hucklebuck” - and “Billie’s Bounce”, an altogether more idiomatic theme, closer to the unpredictable phrasing of Parker’s soloing style. Composed melodies were often abandoned however in favour of pure ‘blowing’. “Meandering” documented Parker’s spontaneous melodic thoughts over the harmonies of “Embraceable You”, “Thrivin’ On A Riff”, was based on another Gershwin number “I Got Rhythm” (though there’s a snatch of a Gillespie/Parker theme “Anthropology” in the final chorus). Most significant though was “KoKo” which, following Diz and Bird on the convoluted intro, comprises two choruses of Bird’s astonishing improvisation on the chords of “Cherokee”. A piece of cod-exotica composed by British bandleader Ray Noble, it’s the song that Parker once said made him “come alive” as a player. “Warmin’ Up A Riff” is an informally recorded but only marginally less impressive take on the same chord changes.
Charlie Parker Septet: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Lucky Thompson (tenor sax), Dodo Marmarosa (piano), Arvin Garrison (guitar), Vic McMillan (bass), Roy Porter (drums). Hollywood, 28th March 1946.
7. Ornithology
8. Yardbird Suite
9. Moose The Mooche
10. A Night In Tunisia
Bop comes to the West Coast and, other than a steadily improving Miles Davis on trumpet, this is a whole new band, not to say another record company; Dial. One of the great Parker sessions, the sidemen were all interesting, with the oblique pianist Marmarosa a standout but tenorist Lucky Thompson also producing some fascinating things. And Bird, never normally the most considered of ‘composers’ (though it could be argued that his every intricate improvisation was a valuable composition) produced strong ensemble themes as jumping-off points. “Yardbird Suite” was an attractively sunny original while “Ornithology” (devised over the harmonies of “How High The Moon”) and “Moose The Mooch” (“I Got Rhythm”) – named for a Hollywood drug contact - are among the most famous and vivid of Parker’s themes. Bird is on tremendous form throughout though the delirious double-time entry into his solo on “A Night In Tunisia” (incomplete out-takes of which have appeared as “The Famous Alto Break”) is a study in itself.
Howard McGhee Quintet: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Howard McGhee (trumpet), Jimmy Bunn (piano), Robert Kesterson (bass), Roy Porter (drums). Hollywood, 29th July 1946.
11. Lover Man
12. The Gypsy
Having cashed in his ticket home for heroin money, Parker was stranded (and usually strung –out) in California. This Dial session led by trumpeter and fellow junkie Howard McGhee and recorded on the eve of Bird’s collapse which precipitated a six-month stay in Camarillo State Hospital, documents his sorry state all too clearly. He misses his entrance on “Lover Man” and plays several obvious ‘clams’ at the outset of “The Gypsy” and then struggles for coherence on both numbers, despite flashes of auto-pilot sophistication. Despised and deeply regretted by Parker, far from being “some of the most moving, soul-baring minutes ever recorded” (as jazz writer Ira Gitler has it), these sides have Bird sounding like a man who has been given the wrong drug.
Charlie Parker Quartet: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Erroll Garner (piano), Red Callender (bass), Harold ‘Doc’ West (drums). Hollywood, 19th February 1947.
13. Bird's Nest
14. Cool Blues
Still in Hollywood but fitter and more relaxed than in years, his first Dial session following his release from hospital was a happy one. Erroll Garner and his then-trio were not by nature boppers, but they could swing mightily and they support Parker with gusto. These two cuts, “Bird’s Nest” (a ‘rhythm changes’ piece with a bridge based on “Exactly Like You”) and “Cool Blues” (an original 12-bar blues) were knocked off at the end of a session for vocalist Earl Coleman who had sung himself out.
Charlie Parker’s New Stars: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Howard McGhee (trumpet), Wardell Gray (tenor sax), Dodo Marmarosa (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Red Callender (bass), Don Lamond (drums). Hollywood, 26th February 1947.
15. Relaxin' At Camarillo
16. Carvin' The Bird
17. Stupendous
A week later and Bird was back to his tardy ways, promising to provide Dial with four original tunes but managing only to produce a blues fragment. But some fragment. “Relaxin’ At Camarillo” was one of the most beguiling themes Parker ever came up with; serpentine and elusive, it took Howard McGhee and Wardell Gray several takes to nail and remains the subtle essence of Parker’s unique rhythmic approach. McGhee saved the remainder of the session with a few of his own originals, including the blues “Carvin’ The Bird” and “Stupendous”, a variation on Gershwin’s “S’Wonderful”. Everyone plays well enough, but with this size band there’s sometimes a sense of too many soloists and not enough time.
Charlie Parker All Stars: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Bud Powell (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Max Roach (drums). NYC, 8th May 1947.
18. Donna Lee
19. Cheryl
20. Chasin' The Bird
Back in New York with a new regular band, back with Miles and his rhythmic buddy Max Roach and back on Savoy, his first session with the new group was a rich one for compositions, though in places the execution was less than pristine. Miles audibly struggles with “Donna Lee” (his own elaborate variation on “Indiana”) and while “Chasin’ The Bird” is notable for being a rare example of contrapuntal bop (separate melody lines played by the two lead instruments), ultimately the effect is rather lugubrious. “Cheryl”, however, is one of Bird’s most elegant blues lines, the giant of bop piano Bud Powell (in for regular pianist Duke Jordan) is in good form and the leader’s playing overall is near the top of his tree.
Miles Davis All Stars: Miles Davis (trumpet), Charlie Parker (tenor sax), John Lewis (piano), Nelson Boyd (bass), Max Roach (drums). NYC, 14th August 1947.
1. Milestones
2. Little Willie Leaps
3. Half Nelson
4. Sippin' At Bells
21-year old Miles Davis leads his first recording date for Savoy and Bird is featured in a rare outing on tenor saxophone. (His only other recorded tenor date was also a Miles Davis session, in 1953 for Prestige.) Miles’s original compositions are studiously complicated but notably sophisticated and relaxed, a discernible step on from the bebop norm. Parker acquits himself well enough on the bigger horn and future MJQ main man Lewis exudes quiet authority (and contributes the chord sequence to “Milestones”) but the trumpeter rises to job of leader with aplomb, asserting a genuine musical personality as well as laying down his most assured playing to date.
Charlie Parker Quintet: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Max Roach (drums). NYC, 28th October 1947.
5. Dewey Square
6. Bird Of Paradise
7. The Hymn
8. Embraceable You
In the battle of Bird’s record companies, Hollywood’s Dial had won the favour of Parker’s agency desperate to get tracks in the can before a New Year musicians’ union ban. With a bigger budget and a better studio (New York’s WOR on 48th and Broadway), this session captures the sound of a working band that had been gigging for six months - efficient, tight and routinely superb - on a date Parker discographer John Burton has called “one of the greatest recording sessions in history”. In terms of material, it’s standard stuff. A disguised ballad (“Bird Of Paradise” is based on the chords Jerome Kern’s “All The Things You Are”) and a not so disguised one (“Embraceable You” quotes a fragment of the original melody at the end), a fast blues (“The Hymn”) and an original tune based on the modified changes of “Rosetta” (“Dewey Square”). But the playing throughout is majestic. Parker’s ballad playing is among his most beautiful (not to say the most discussed and studied) and the up-tempo work by both Miles and Bird on “The Hymn” is exhilarating.
Charlie Parker Quintet: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Max Roach (drums). NYC, 4th November 1947.
9. Scrapple From The Apple
10. Out Of Nowhere
11. Don't Blame Me
A week later and further documentation of a great band. “Scrapple From The Apple” is one of the most distinctive and among the most covered of Parker originals (based on “Honeysuckle Rose” and “I Got Rhythm” and only moderately difficult to play). “Out Of Nowhere” and “Don’t Blame Me” are two superior 1930s pop songs that musicians still play today, simply because Bird left these performances behind to inspire them.
Charlie Parker Quintet: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), J.J. Johnson (trombone), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Max Roach (drums). NYC, 17th December 1947.
12. Charlie's Wig
13. How Deep Is The Ocean?
14. Crazeology
This session concluded the group’s spurt of recording for Dial at the end of 1947 to beat the M.U strike and had the foremost bop trombonist of the day J.J. Johnson guesting and also featured Bird on a brand new Selmer alto saxophone; he’d thrown his old one out of a hotel window after quarreling with a Detroit club owner. Bird’s sound is confident and bright on the up-tempos - “Charlie’s Wig” (based on the operetta tune “When I Grow Too Old To Dream”) and the modified “I Got Rhythm” of “Crazeology” - and round and full on another ballad masterpiece “How Deep Is The Ocean”.
Charlie Parker All Stars: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Max Roach (drums). NYC, 21st December 1947.
15. Blue Bird
16. Klaunstance
17. Bird Gets The Worm
This session was squeezed in by Savoy only a few days before the M.U. ban came into force and though this intensive recording of the band was forced by circumstances, posterity is grateful. “Blue Bird” is a relaxed riff blues, similar to “Cool Blues” recorded in Hollywood 10 months earlier while “Klaunstance” is an uptempo variation on Jerome Kern’s “The Way You Look Tonight”. The highlight of the session however is probably “Bird Gets The Worm”, a positively incendiary workout over the changes to “Lover Come Back To Me” which catches Bird and Miles in sparkling shape with pianist Duke Jordan sounding a little stranded by the punishing tempo.
Charlie Parker All Stars: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), John Lewis (piano), Curly Russell (bass), Max Roach (drums). NYC, 18th September 1948.
18. Barbados
19. Constellation
20. Parker's Mood
Approaching the end of an era and the dawn of a new one. Miles was soon to lose patience with Bird’s less-than-scrupulous finances and would leave to form his Birth Of The Cool nonet while Bird himself would record in various settings with Norman Granz’s Clef and Verve labels until his death seven years later. Meanwhile, in September 1948 the M.U. ban was almost over, but not soon enough for Savoy who sneaked in more recording from Parker’s quintet while it still existed, albeit with John Lewis in for Jordan (at the request of Miles) and Curly Russell replacing Potter. “Barbados” is a delightfully sunny blues which shifts from a rumba to a swing feel after the initial theme statement. Both Bird and Miles sound relaxed and in control, though interestingly it’s the increasingly authoritative trumpeter who attempts the extended double-time passages. “Constellation” is a virtually themeless “Rhythm”/”Honeysuckle” hybrid which feature insouciant high-energy bop lines from the horns, but the masterpiece is “Parker’s Mood”, a matchless piece of jazz/blues poetry from a genius at the height of his powers.
Chris Ingham | |
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