at a glance...

Hometown: Kansas City, MO
First Recordings: 1941

Band:
Dizzy Gillespie, Howard McGhee, Buck Clayton -trumpets
Charlie Parker, Willie Smith -alto sax
Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Ventura -tenor sax
Mel Powell, Ken Kersey -piano
Irving Ashby -guitar
Billy Hadnott -bass
Lee Young, Buddy Rich -drums

Notes:
Charlie "Yardbird" Parker still ranks as the greatest improviser of all time. Considered the father of "modern" jazz, or bebop, Parker possessed an extraordinary combination of speed and grace, of technical virtuosity and deep emotion, all of which remained greatly informed by the blues. His first noteworthy gig was in Jay McShann's swing/jump blues band from 1940-1942. Even within very short solo spaces, Bird's incredible melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic invention stood out. He began his landmark small-group collaboration with Dizzy Gillespie in 1944. With Gillespie, Parker invented a rhythmically and harmonically challenging idiom (bop) that changed forever the way musicians approach jazz music. During his improvisations, he would back himself into (and then work his way out off) near-impossible corners, and somehow, his playing never sounded forced or strained. His ability to spontaneously create compelling melodic figures in his solos is unmatched. Only Louis Armstrong did as much to affect the course of jazz's development. Incredibly, Parker created this enormous legacy in fewer than 20 years of playing music. He died at the age of 34.

Links:
A tribute to Charlie "Yardbird Parker"

Despite top billing on this release, Charlie Parker wasn't really the leader of these incredible all-star jam sessions; he was merely the star of stars. In any case, this recording is the perfect album with which to understand the changes in jazz that Bird and bebop ushered in. Familiar standards such as "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "After You've Gone" accompany three Gershwin tunes and two impromptu blues.

The first session, recorded at Los Angeles' Philharmonic Auditorium on Jan. 28, 1946, begins with a furiously paced "Sweet Georgia Brown" introduced by Dizzy Gillespie. After a brilliant stride-heavy solo from pianist Mel Powell, Bird finally arrives on stage. (He was late due to a last-minute, but successful, search for heroin.) He immediately delights the crowd with the slithering runs and bluesy punctuations that define his work. Howard McGhee replaces Gillespie and Arnold Ross replaces Powell for the next four cuts. The ballad "I Can't Get Started" features Lester Young's long, wistful tenor spot. Young, a bop forefather and a major influence on Parker, plays softly and romantically around the melody in his trademark cool tones. Parker follows with an equally expressive turn, but he also displays a more "modern" approach: playing based on chords as well as melody. Here lies Parker's true significance: He incorporated his harmonically advanced ideas without sacrificing the feeling and emotion of swing. Many boppers who followed him got lost in technical exercises, never approaching Parker's combination of technique and emotion. This date marked the first collaboration between Young and Parker.

The medium-tempo "Oh, Lady Be Good" contains one of jazz's most memorable solos, courtesy of Parker. His astonishing two choruses begin with quiet melodic phrases and emphatic blues riffs before he launches into fluid runs of unbridled creativity. Young, who'd apparently left the stage, is urged by cohorts to return to provide an answer to Bird, and his delicate, romantic lines contrast perfectly with Bird's flurries. McGhee and alto Willie Smith also contribute stirring turns. A super-charged "After You've Gone" concludes this set in exciting fashion.

The remaining two cuts were recorded three months later at L.A.'s Embassy Auditorium. Swing legends Coleman Hawkins, Ken Kersey, Buck Clayton, and Buddy Rich join the proceedings for a rousing "I Got Rhythm." Perhaps in an effort to mesh with the swing context, Parker seems to be holding back, although he does unleash some prototypical bop runs (especially when he returns for the final bridge). Young, sensing this restraint in Parker, counters with lines borrowed from Bird's more aggressive vocabulary, elating the audience in the process. "Rhythm" features a dream sequence of Hawkins, Parker, and Young, the three most influential sax players of the first half of the 20th century--and Clayton was no slouch on trumpet either.

Jazz at the Philharmonic 1946 represents a changing of the jazz guard as Bird's bebop would soon surpass swing as the predominant style.

If you like Charlie Parker, check out:
Charlie Parker Birdology
Cannonball Adderley Somethin' Else
Various Jazz at Massey Hall
John Coltrane Ballads

-- Marc Greilsamer