Charlie PARKER - Jam Session 1952
Label: Verve
Jazz
JAM SESSION was compiled from a 1952 jam session which brought together three of history's greatest alto saxophonists; Parker, Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter, as well as Ben Webster and Flip Phillips on tenor sax. Orchestrated by Norman Granz to come as close to an authentic jam session as possible, this is the first of the Jazz at the Philharmonic series. The album includes an original blues tune ("Jam Blues"), a medley of ballads selected by each musician, and a mellow blues tune called "Funky Blues".
The standard "What is ThisThing Called Love", stands out particularly for its follow-the-leader style ending, with each musician trading fours. Interestingly, the meeting of these three greats, with their widely varying styles, results not in spectacular and fiercely competitive playing, but rather in a slight muting and sense of reserve from all three.
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Does anybody remember those two highly accomplished albums that Charlie Parker released in the early-1950's? Since Charlie Parker With Strings (1950) and Charlie Parker Jam Sessions (1952) was released on compact disc in the 1990's, they were met with praise and disappointing results. The CD edition of Charlie Parker With Strings, released in 1995, was released in it's completion, but the last four tracks from the Charlie Parker Big Band (1952) session were included, although the CD version of Charlie Parker Big Band was released as a part for the Verve Master Edition Series in 1997 to perfection. (I brought Charlie Parker Big Band when it came out and was dazzled and satisfied with it). For the Charlie Parker Jam Sessions, several finishing touches may have to be made and added (alongside Charlie Parker With Strings) to the Verve Master Edition Series. You may want to do a checkdown on the entire Jam Session, and their is a brief speculation that this all-star extraviganza might come in a deluxe 2-CD set (where master takes & the whole album session may be included). However, it is likely that the new and improved CD edition of Charlie Parker Jam Session could come in a whole single CD (up to 80 minutes). Right now, this should be the right time to restore and digitally remaster Charlie Parker With Strings and Charlie Parker Jam Sessions to their complete, expanded format. Oh yes, I even heard of another Charlie Parker masterpiece which was reissued and remastered to complete form as a Japanese import. It is Swedish Schnappes, released in 1951, where it contains the slick swinging number Au Privave and is hailed as one of his greatest and popular albums. When Verve's reissue department is busy reissuing Charlie Parker With Strings and Charlie Parker Jam Sessions to their complete format, they may want to introduce the Japanese edition of Swedish Schappes as an American domestic edition for the first time in North America. Plus there is another Charlie Parker masterpiece I would also recomend, and that one is South Of The Border, released in 1954 (reissued on in 1995), his fantastic tribute to Latin music. However, there might be great hope for restoration of these two masterpeices by 'Bird' himself, we would like to hear from the other online members like myself and the Verve Music Group on what they think aobut this ray of hope I given given to Verve's official website. So what is your oppintion fellow online members? Let's give Charlie Parker With Strings and Charlie Parker Jam Sessions the restoration it fully deserves--and Swedesh Schnappes the domestic introduction it needs.
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One of a handful of musicians who can be said to have permanently changed jazz, Charlie Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time. He could play remarkably fast lines that, if slowed down to half speed, would reveal that every note made sense. "Bird," along with his contemporaries Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell, is considered a founder of bebop; in reality he was an intuitive player who simply was expressing himself. Rather than basing his improvisations closely on the melody as was done in swing, he was a master of chordal improvising, creating new melodies that were based on the structure of a song. In fact, Bird wrote several future standards (such as "Anthropology," "Ornithology," "Scrapple from the Apple," and "Ko Ko," along with such blues numbers as "Now's the Time" and "Parker's Mood") that "borrowed" and modernized the chord structures of older tunes. Parker's remarkable technique, fairly original sound, and ability to come up with harmonically advanced phrases that could be both logical and whimsical were highly influential. By 1950, it was impossible to play "modern jazz" with credibility without closely studying Charlie Parker.
Born in Kansas City, KS, Charlie Parker grew up in Kansas City, MO. He first played baritone horn before switching to alto. Parker was so enamored of the rich Kansas City music scene that he dropped out of school when he was 14, even though his musicianship at that point was questionable (with his ideas coming out faster than his fingers could play them). After a few humiliations at jam sessions, Bird worked hard woodshedding over one summer, building up his technique and mastery of the fundamentals. By 1937, when he first joined Jay McShann's Orchestra, he was already a long way toward becoming a major player.
Charlie Parker, who was early on influenced by Lester Young and the sound of Buster Smith, visited New York for the first time in 1939, working as a dishwasher at one point so he could hear Art Tatum play on a nightly basis. He made his recording debut with Jay McShann in 1940, creating remarkable solos with a small group from McShann's orchestra on "Oh, Lady Be Good" and "Honeysuckle Rose." When the McShann big band arrived in New York in 1941, Parker had short solos on a few of their studio blues records, and his broadcasts with the orchestra greatly impressed (and sometimes scared) other musicians who had never heard his ideas before. Parker, who had met and jammed with Dizzy Gillespie for the first time in 1940, had a short stint with Noble Sissle's band in 1942, played tenor with Earl Hines' sadly unrecorded bop band of 1943, and spent a few months in 1944 with Billy Eckstine's orchestra, leaving before that group made their first records. Gillespie was also in the Hines and Eckstine big bands, and the duo became a team starting in late 1944.
Although Charlie Parker recorded with Tiny Grimes' combo in 1944, it was his collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie in 1945 that startled the jazz world. To hear the two virtuosos play rapid unisons on such new songs as "Groovin' High," "Dizzy Atmosphere," "Shaw 'Nuff," "Salt Peanuts," and "Hot House," and then launch into fiery and unpredictable solos could be an upsetting experience for listeners much more familiar with Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. Although the new music was evolutionary rather than revolutionary, the recording strike of 1943-1944 resulted in bebop arriving fully formed on records, seemingly out of nowhere.
Unfortunately, Charlie Parker was a heroin addict ever since he was a teenager, and some other musicians who idolized Bird foolishly took up drugs in the hope that it would elevate their playing to his level. When Gillespie and Parker (known as "Diz and Bird") traveled to Los Angeles and were met with a mixture of hostility and indifference (except by younger musicians who listened closely), they decided to return to New York. Impulsively, Parker cashed in his ticket, ended up staying in L.A., and, after some recordings and performances (including a classic version of "Oh, Lady Be Good" with Jazz at the Philharmonic), the lack of drugs (which he combated by drinking an excess of liquor) resulted in a mental breakdown and six months of confinement at the Camarillo State Hospital. Released in January 1947, Parker soon headed back to New York and engaged in some of the most rewarding playing of his career, leading a quintet that included Miles Davis, Duke Jordan, Tommy Potter, and Max Roach. Parker, who recorded simultaneously for the Savoy and Dial labels, was in peak form during the 1947-1951 period, visiting Europe in 1949 and 1950, and realizing a lifelong dream to record with strings starting in 1949 when he switched to Norman Granz's Verve label.
But Charlie Parker, due to his drug addiction and chance-taking personality, enjoyed playing with fire too much. In 1951, his cabaret license was revoked in New York (making it difficult for him to play in clubs) and he became increasingly unreliable. Although he could still play at his best when he was inspired (such as at the 1953 Massey Hall concert with Gillespie), Bird was heading downhill. In 1954, he twice attempted suicide before spending time in Bellevue. His health, shaken by a very full if brief life of excesses, gradually declined, and when he died in March 1955 at the age of 34, he could have passed for 64.
Charlie Parker, who was a legendary figure during his lifetime, has if anything grown in stature since his death. Virtually all of his studio recordings are available on CD along with a countless number of radio broadcasts and club appearances. Clint Eastwood put together a well-intentioned if simplified movie about aspects of his life (Bird). Parker's influence, after the rise of John Coltrane, has become more indirect than direct, but jazz would sound a great deal different if Charlie Parker had not existed. The phrase "Bird Lives" (which was scrawled as graffiti after his death) is still very true.
By Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.
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Charlie “Bird” Parker- Alto Sax
Johnny Hodges- Alto Sax
Benny Carter- Alto Sax
Ben Webster- Tenor Sax
Flip Phillips- Tenor Sax
Charlie Shavers- Trumpet
Barney Kessel- Guitar
Oscar Peterson- Piano
Ray Brown- Bass
J.C. Heard- Drums
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01. Jam Blues (14:42)
02. What Is This Thing Called Love? (15:51)
03. Ballad Medley (17:23) {a) All The Things You Are; (b) Dearly Beloved; (c) The Nearness Of You;
(d) I'll Get By; (e) Everything Happens To Me; (f) The Man I Love; (g) What's New;
(h) Someone To Watch Over Me; (i) Isn't It Romantic?}
04. Funky Blues (13:27)
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