Another foray into ornithology and again featuring excerpts from Barney Hoskyns‘ Waiting For The Sun: A Rock ‘n’ Roll History of Los Angeles. Overall, it’s a solid reference book, but the first 50 or so pages are my favorite. Not enough is written about LA’s postwar music scene, so respect to Hoskyns for addressing not just Charlie Parker, but Central Avenue R&B, the rise of west coast jazz, and the rise (and fall) of the postwar independent record label.
“When Billy Berg asked Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson to recommend some New York acts for the club, Gibson had no hesitation in urging him to book the all-star Dizzy Gillespie Sextet, featuring the one-man whirlwind of Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker.”
Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars – Shaw’ Nuff
Recorded May 11, 1945
Dizzy Gillespie – trumpet
Charlie Parker – alto sax
Clyde Hart – piano
Remo Palmeri – guitar
Curley Russell – bass
Sid Catlett – drums
Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars – Shaw’ Nuff
Charlie Parker Septet – Yardbird Suite
Recorded March 28, 1946
Charlie Parker – alto sax
Lucky Thompson – tenor sax
Miles Davis – trumpet
Dodo Marmarosa – piano
Arvin Garrison – guitar
Vic McMillan – bass
Roy Porter – drums
Charlie Parker Septet – Yardbird Suite
SHOOT THEM WITH THE BOP GUN
“Not everybody embraced it, but it was incredibly exciting if you were 22,” says Buddy Collette, one of the few players from that era to survive in LA with his health and his sanity intact. “Gillespie and Parker came in with a completely new way of storytelling — new notes and lines, flat ninths. When those scales and chords came in, it was hard to hear them, you had to know what they were. So it got more technical, rather than just being a case of finding some notes and playing around the blues.”
“After Dizzy returned to New York, Parker stayed on, landing a gig with Howard McGhee‘s band at the Club Finale and cutting such famous sides as ‘Ornithology’ and ‘Night In Tunisia’ for Ross Russell, an ex-marine who ran a record store in Hollywood and issued records on his little Dial label.”
Charlie Parker Septet – Ornithology
Recorded March 28, 1946
Charlie Parker – alto sax
Lucky Thompson – tenor sax
Miles Davis – trumpet
Dodo Marmarosa – piano
Arvin Garrison – guitar
Vic McMillan – bass
Roy Porter – drums
Charlie Parker Septet – Ornithology
Charlie Parker Septet – Moose The Mooche
Recorded March 28, 1946
Charlie Parker – alto sax
Lucky Thompson – tenor sax
Miles Davis – trumpet
Dodo Marmarosa – piano
Vic McMillan – bass
Roy Porter – drums
Charlie Parker Septet – Moose The Mooche
GOT TO GET OVER THE HUMP
“Bird’s main preoccupations in LA were more accurately reflected by ‘Moose The Mooche’, inspired by a crippled dope dealer who peddled his wares from a shoeshine parlor on Central Avenue.”
“The heroin habit proved increasingly debilitating: after the Finale’s temporary closure, Bird (pictured right, flyin’ the flannel) ended up living in a garage, all but penniless.”
“In July, on the night he recorded the heartbreaking ballad ‘Lover Man’ at C.P. MacGregor’s studio on Western Avenue (Hollywood), he nodded out in a hotel and set fire to his mattress — a typical junkie tale, but one which landed him in the nut ward at Camarillo State Hospital for six months. The stay probably saved his life.”
Charlie Parker Quintet – Lover Man
Recorded July 29, 1946
Charlie Parker – alto sax
Howard McGhee – trumpet
Jimmy Bunn – piano
Bob Kesterson – bass
Roy Porter – drums
Charlie Parker Quintet – Lover Man
Charlie Parker Quartet – Cool Blues
Recorded February 19, 1947
Charlie Parker – alto sax
Erroll Garner – piano
Red Callender – bass
Harold “Doc” West – drums
Charlie Parker Quartet – Cool Blues
BIRD FOR NEWBIES
“Certainly he was in better shape when he emerged in January 1947 to take up residency at the Hi-De-Ho Club with Howard McGhee and Hampton Hawes. By the time he returned to New York in March (1948), he’d cut further electrifying sessions for Dial (including the drolly titled ‘Relaxin’ At Camarillo’) and left a mark on west coast jazz that was truly indelible.”
Yardbird Suite – 38 songs over 2 discs spanning most of Parker’s career (1945-54), with Dizzy, Miles, Thelonious Monk, Erroll Garner, and Max Roach in supporting roles. Lots of cool B&W pics, the liner notes give a good overview of Bird’s career, the best starting point in the Bird canon.
In A Soulful Mood – The best single disc overview of the Dial sessions. 26 songs, perfectly divided between its LA and New York halves.
Reading Adios Lounge I feel like I'm going to college, but only none of the bad stuff about going to college. thanks
Heh heh. Thanks Biskit!