Jazz | Pint | At Birdland 1950 Revisited

One of the first CDs I bought was Audio Archives Collectors Edition – Charlie Parker - 18 Reflective Recording. It was a super cheap disc I found at Tower Music not long after I started playing the saxophone that was comprised of studio and live recordings featuring Charlie Parker. Aside from the track listing, that was it... no other information. I later found out that some of the tracks that had really stood out to me we’re live recordings that Columbia had released as One Night at Birdland. The mystery musicians alongside Bird were Fats Navarro, Bud Powell, Curley Russell and Art Blakey – quite the line up. I eventually got that LP while I was in New York City studying with Richard Tabnik... and it just happened to be one of his favourites and we listened to examples from it during my lessons on more than one occasion (Hi Richard!). That LP got plenty of air time when I got home until my turntable packed up shortly before I moved back to the US and the LPs were left in a box at the folks place until my return. I eventually found it on CD and ordered it only to discover two copies of disc 1 and the Birdland session was on the missing disc 2 (or the other way round... I forget). I still haven’t replaced my turntable (I know, it will happen ), so I’ve resorted to listening to online ever since. Recently Hatology/Ezz-Thetics reissued it and last month and Charlie Parker At Birdland 1950 Revisited arrived in the mail. So it’s been getting a spin or two. It’s a must for fans of Bird, Fats, and Bud - great live energy and simply some of the very best on record from all three. I think I’ll leave it there. Just do yourself a favour and check it out. I washed it down with a Riggwelter.

COVID-19 Level 3: Day 4

I forgot to publish this on Friday so I have combined Day 4 and Day 7 (sometimes the days just blend together) – plus what I was working on today didn't lend itself to listening to music.

When I put Perceptions back on the shelf last night I grabbed The Modern Jazz Society Presents A Concert of Contemporary Music. Like Perceptions, is an album purchased during a somewhat brief look at the third stream offerings of the 1950s and 60s – a curious sidebar in jazz. I’ve never been much of a fan of John Lewis. I’m not sure why, but his music has never really grabbed me and as a result I never really explored what he had to offer. I’m open to recommendations though.

I was feeling the need for something a little more high energy – Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker: Town Hall, NYC June 22 1945 – provided just that. Bird sounds so great on this gig, as does Dizzy, and it sounds like they’re having fun. It’s a great archival find, recorded not long after the Guild sessions. And aside from the opening track, “Bebop” (where they’re sorting out the levels), the sound is really good too. The M.C work of Symphony Sid is pretty corny and cringe worthy but it’s great they left him in as it adds to the vibe of the evening. It’s funny how dated the announcements sound but the music remains vital. If you ever needed an example of a drummer dropping bombs, Max Roach’s bass here is loud and clear. It’s also interesting hearing Max and then having Sid Catlett sit in with the same band. Anyway, this is such a great find and we’re lucky to have it so it got another run on Monday morning too.

COVID-19 Lockdown: what day is it?

Is it Day 34 of lockdown or day 1 at level 3?..... Either way, much remains the same for me at least. However, there was the sad news over the weekend that Phil Broadhurst lost his battle with cancer. Phil was an integral part of the New Zealand jazz scene as a pianist, composer, educator and broadcaster. Personally, I have limited knowledge of his recorded output (and I think I only heard him live once or twice), so I spent the morning listening to his 2015 recording Panacea. I was feeling a bit jaded this morning, not sure exactly why, but starting off the work day with frustrating errors, doesn’t help the mood. And it didn’t help set the tone to listen to some contemporary jazz, most of which just floated by.... in one ear out the other. I’ll hit it again later once I’ve perked up a bit.

Over the weekend I got a hankering to listen to some Dizzy Gillespie. Who knows why, but here we are. There was a time when I listened to a lot of Diz. It has been a while and most of the Diz I’ve listened to since has been with recordings of Charlie Parker. That’s where I kicked off today... Bird and Diz – not my favourite session of the pairing but somewhere to start nonetheless. It always raises the question... why Buddy Rich and not Max Roach? Anyway, I feel more Diz is on the cards – with and without Bird - and I’m looking forward to it.

Recent Listening: Late Sept-Early Oct

Solomon Ilori and his Afro-Drum Ensemble: African High Life (Blue Note). I was on the lookout for Art Blakey's The African Beat when I came across this recording from 1964.

Evan Parker & Han Bennink: The Grass Is Greener (PSI). Although this album has its moments, I haven't really been able to get into it just yet. That won't stop me to returning to it though.

Charlie Parker: The Complete Live Performances on Savoy (Savoy). Mostly I've been listening to the 1947 Carnegie Hall tracks with Dizzy, John Lewis (pretty well off-mic), Al McKibbon and Joe Harris. Bird's tone is nicely captured, and Dizzy has plenty of fire. Bird's break on "Groovin' High" always gives me a kick.

Mike Nock: Talisman (Enja). A lovely late-70s solo piano outing from Nock that I picked up earlier this year. This one was accompanying me as I waited to get a couple of Mike's more recent albums (more on them to come later).

Various: The Birth of the Third Stream (Columbia). This one had been on my list for a while and I've been playing tracks from it over the last few weeks (in fact, it's playing as I write this post). It's a little annoying that they weren't able to squeeze two of the tracks from Music for Brass onto the CD. Worth checking out if you haven't (particularly for arrangers/composers).

Bedside Listening

Of late, these albums have been hanging out on the bedside table. Occasionally the full album will be played - usually during the day (as was the case on Saturday when Shots got a couple of spins). For the most part though I listen to a few tracks before going to sleep (sometimes as a morning wake up too). The line up evolves over the course of a couple of weeks.

Herbie Nichols: The Complete Blue Note Recordings (Blue Note)

Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie: Bird and Diz (Verve)

Hayden Chisholm: Breve (Pirouet)

Jay Clayton and Jerry Granelli: Sound Songs (Winter & Winter)

Steve Lacy: Shots (HatOlogy)

Roland Kirk: The Inflated Tear (Atlantic)

Notebook 3: Yusef Bergonzi

A couple of weeks ago I was flicking through my old practice notebook. I came across a couple of pages of notes on rhythm exercises from a time when Yusef Lateef's Repository of Scales and Melodic Patterns found a regular slot in my practice time. Although there is quite a bit of rhythmic variety throughout the book, I took some of the lines and started applying them to rhythms from Jerry Bergonzi's Inside Improvisation Volume 4: Melodic Rhythms.

I have notated some examples below, although when I worked on this I did not write out anything - I just internalised the rhythms and applied them to the original lines. I worked on this with and without using a metronome. You may want to use a play-a-long recording.

It's a simple idea really - take a rhythm and apply it to melodic material. It can be a nice way to break up practicing everything in streams of 8th notes or triplets. The same melodic material can sound very different when it is changed rhythmically. Although the examples of the melodic & rhythmic material below come from books, feel free to create your own.

Here are a few examples:
Excerpt from Repository of Scales and Melodic Patterns (page 3) - "Major Triads in Cycle of Down a Major Third and Up a Perfect Fourth"

Two of the "22 Rhythms" from Inside Improvisation Volume 4: Melodic Rhythms (page 16).

Combing the first line of melodic material with the first rhythm:

Combing the second line of melodic material with the second rhythm:

Once you feel comfortable playing the lines with two or three different rhythms, start alternating between the different rhythms.

The next example uses a hemiola rhythm from Jerry Bergonzi's Melodic Rhythms (page 67)

The hemiola applied to the Yusef Lateef excerpt.

A little later on, I did the same with Volume 5 in the Bergonzi series: Thesaurus of Intervallic Melodies.

I also combined melodic material with the rhythms of melodies. Here the line(s) above are combined with the melodic rhythm of Charlie Parker's "Billie's Bounce." I'm using the rhythm as it appears in the Charlie Parker Tune Book by Fred Parcells (which you can download for free on his website). "Relaxin' At Camarillo" would be a nice one too - use any melody which appeals to you rhythmically.

Here, the Bergonzi intervallic lines are applied to melodic rhythm of "Billie's Bounce." Before jumping in make sure you have a solid grasp of the melodic rhythm - you may even start by playing it on one note (from memory, Steve Lacy mentions this in Findings).

Start off slow and build into it. Once you feel comfortable applying predetermined notes to the rhythms, start improvising your note choices with the fixed rhythm(s). As you can image, the rhythmic variations on a line are endless.

I used the free music notation software Muse Score to create the examples above.
Previous posts from my notebook can be found here: Old Music - New Music & One Free Note.

Bird Dream

At 4:45am I quickly scribbled down the dream I woke from. It's the only time I can recall Charlie Parker visiting my dreams.

It's new years eve and we're on a Greek mountainside. In the blink of an eye to we're in Paraparaumu and Bird is on the driveway playing a free blues on alto clarinet. The tune morphs into Scrapple From The Apple as Barry Harris joins in on bass clarinet. The tune finishes, Bird leaves and everyone starts playing tennis. Virg's serve is hard to handle. Things end with me at the local squash club hitting a few balls by myself.

Solo Mix Tape

With the wintery blast taking hold of Chicago (and the rest of the U.S) I decided to use some of the time I had indoors to put together a mix tape/playlist of solos (at both regular and half speed) that I want to spent time with this year. Here's what has made the list so far, with more still to be added.

Apparently it is "Sitting In."

Roy Eldridge
"Body and Soul"
"Stardust"
"Sittin' In" (I also included Chu Berry's solo)
These three tracks come from a session in 1938 for Commodore released under Chu Berry's name with Clyde Hart (p) Danny Barker (g) Artie Shapiro (b) Sid Catlett (d).

Warne Marsh
"Remember" (Live at Birdland 1949)
One of my favourite solos from Marsh. Based on "I'll Remember April."

Charlie Parker
"All of Me"
"I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me"
These two tracks were recorded with Lennie Tristano and Kenny Clarke in 1951.

Lennie Tristano
"Line Up" 
One of Tristano's best known solos. There was a time when I was listening to this solo everyday. I'm looking forward to sharing some time with it again.

Lester Young
"Way Down Yonder In New Orleans" (two takes of Tenor and Clarinet solos)
I plan to add the remaining tracks from 1938 on the Kansas City Sessions (Commodore) when I get the chance.

There are still a few others I would like to add… some more by Tristano and Lee Konitz to start.

recent listing: october contrafacts

Lately I've been listening to a few contrafacts (tunes written on the chords of other tunes).  For the most part I have been looking for pre-bop contrafacts. Drop me a line if you know any good ones.

First up was checking out some tunes based on changes from "Tiger Rag" (which shares plenty in common with "Won't you come home Bill Bailey") - Duke Ellington was a fan - "Daybreak Express," "Hot & Bothered," "Braggin' In Brass" & "The Slippery Horn" come out of "Tiger Rag."
A couple of others "Tiger Rag" based tunes I've come across include Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than Hot" and Sidney Bechet playing "I'll Take That New Orleans Music" (Wilbur DeParis).

There are plenty based on "I Got Rhythm".... "The Jeep Is Jumpin" (Hodges/Ellington) "Apple Honey" (Woody Herman) "Seven Come Eleven" (Charlie Christian) "Shag" (Sidney Bechet) "Chant Of The Groove" (Coleman Hawkins).

Coleman Hawkins wrote a few contrafacts - "Bean Soup" (Tea For Two) "Bay-U-Bah" (Sweet Georgia Brown) "Bean At The Met" (How High The Moon) and I listened to his takes of a couple by Thelonious Monk too - "Rifftide" (aka Hackensack (Lady Be Good) & "Stuffy" (aka Stuffy Turkey (Stompin' At The Savoy).

Another based on Stompin' is "Byas A Drink" by Don Byas. He'ss a player I haven't listened to that much. I remember giving his famous duo with Slam Steward on I Got Rhythm quite a few listens, but that was some time ago.

A few different versions of "Moten Swing" (You're Driving Me Crazy) have been on, including Jay McShann (featuring Bird), Gene Ammons, Eddie Durham and Sonny Stitt.

The Count Basie band on "Dickies Dream" (I Found A New Baby - which seems to share a bit in common with "I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music" though I haven't sat down and tried working it out.)

Charles Minugs' band playing "Take The A Train" and "Exactly Like You" at the same time. This is from the album "Mingus Revisited" (aka Pre-Bird - Mingus wrote the pieces before he had heard bop) I hadn't heard this album in ages - I'll have to find time to have a listen to the rest of the album.

I didn't really listen to many of the bop melodies. One I did check out was Charlie Parker's "She Rote." For this the melody is over of pedal tone and the blowing in on the changes from "When I Grow Too Old To Dream" - I've been listening to Nat Cole's version with Stuff Smith and another by Roy Eldridge.

Aside from contrafacts I have also been listening to artists improvising on standard forms without stating the melody (and renaming the tune in the process). Again, I've pretty much been sticking to pre-bop stuff. If you know of any others - from any era - please let me know (I have the Tristano work pretty well covered).

A couple of favourites to start of with - Roy Eldridge & Chu Berry on "Sittin' In" (Tiger Rag) and "Forty-six West-52" (Sweet Georgia Brown)

Not as well known as his 1939 version Coleman Hawkins' "Rainbow Mist" (Body & Soul) from 1944 is worth checking out. Another one from Hawkins in the mid-40s is "Hawk Variations." I'm not totally sure on this one yet - it sounds as if Monk's "Round Midnight" makes and appearance in the 2nd half but I'm not sure of the 1st half yet..... suggestions? This is an excellent (and surprisingly not very well known) solo saxophone performance. Apparently this was recorded as a promo for Selmer saxophones.

Couldn't pass up a couple from Lester Young too - "Lester Swings" (Exactly Like You) and "Lester Blows Again" (Honeysuckle Rose).

Quicksand - Spectral Reflections - Dizzy

Lately, Frank Gratkowski has been on the playlist. I find myself listening to his music in blocks - spend a week or two listening to a few of his albums and then take a break.

First up is his trio disc Quicksand (Miniscus 1999) Gratkowski (as/clr/b.clr) George Graewe (p) Paul Lovens (d/singing saw).
I bought this album late last year and it had been a good four or five months since I had last listened to it.
I am always amazed by the variety of sounds Frank can bring out of his horns, but usually the thing I enjoy most is his line playing - "Green Fuse"  has some nice alto lines with Graewe's piano playing likewise and Loven's drums interjecting and implying various pulses.
The energy is ramped up until the lines lead to breaking point. Things drop down with piano and drums moving into a lengthy duet with clarinet joining them in to round out the piece. The playing and interaction throughout the set is on a high level. For the most part this is fairly high energy free improvisation, but there is enough variety to keep things interesting. The music breathes and is nicely paced. Very nice sounding live recording too.
I find the length of the album refreshing - 44 minutes.

Frank Gratkowski Quartet - Spectral Reflections (Leo 2001)
Gratkowski (as/clr/contrabass clr) Wolter Wierbos (trb) Gerry Hemingway (d) Dieter Manderscheid (b)
The quartet covers a lot of ground over the six tracks - Abstraction ("Blonk"), Swing ("Annaherungem III"), Ballad ("Fenster"), Rhythmic intensity & full throttle blowing ("Loom"), Mysteriousness ("Spectral Reflections"). "Homage" combines many of the above - starting as a haunting ballad with arco bass and angular clarinet, adding vocalized sounds from trombone and minimalist textural playing from drums that gradually become more rhythmic. The trombone and clarinet move into a pointed dialogue with sparse accompaniment that gradually builds into full on swing from the rhythm section while the horns team up and dance on top. They then get a bit a solo space - with some particularly potent clarinet playing - before things drop back down and the piece wraps up with trombone and clarinet. I have heard a fair bit from the individuals in this group but haven't heard much of this quartet - time that changed I say. I would like to hear in concert.
Last December, Leo Records released a new album from the quartet - "La Vent Et La Gorge" I am yet to hear it.

Dizzy Gillespie's early years have had bit of a run over the last few days.
His first solo on record - "King Porter Stomp" from 1937 with the Teddy Hill Orchestra. "Pickin' The Cabbage" from 1940 with Cab Calloway & His Orchestra - was this his first recorded composition?
Coleman Hawkins 1944 recording of Gillespie's "Woody 'n' You" with Dizzy alongside other key players of the new music... Oscar Pettiford (b) and Max Roach (d).
"Blowing The Blues Away" from 1945 as part of Billy Eckstine's Big Band - Dizzy follows some extensive trading between the tenors of Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons.
Then it was on to some his early work as a leader - sextet sessions from 1945 including "Groovin' High" & "Blue 'n' Boogie" (this was the first Dexter Gordon recording I heard) and the session from a couple of weeks later (this time with Charlie Parker) "Dizzy Atmosphere" & "Groovin' High." 

Town Hall, NYC, June 22 1945 (Uptown 2005)
Charlie Parker (as) Dizzy Gillespie (trpt) Al Haig (p) Curly Russell (b) Max Roach (d) Sid Catlett (d)... sits in on the last couple of tunes (a great contrast between the drum generations) Don Byas (ts)... fills in during the first tune until Bird arrives to much applause from the audience (seems he was gaining a loyal following).
A historically important and great sounding live recording - burning through classic repertoire - "Bebop", "A Night In Tunisia", "Groovin' High", "Salt Peanuts", "Hot House."
Each time I listen to this album I always ask "Why haven't I listened to this more?" If you haven't already, be sure to check it out.

The announcements from Symphony Sid Torin are cringe worthy, though they do fill in a few details and give some context to the time.
Diz and Bird played appeared at the Town Hall the previous month - is there another discovery for fans in the future?

I finished things off with some of classics from Dizzy's Big Band - "Manteca" and George Russell's  "Cubano Be" & "Cubano Bop." 

The Rite of Spring at 100

Seeing as today is the 100th anniversary of the debut of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" I thought it was appropriate to post on the subject.

Over the past week I have found a fair bit floating around on the subject - NPR's "Why Jazz Musicians Love 'The Rite Of Spring' is just one example. Other examples include; jazz ensembles and trio's tackling the work - some coinciding with the centenary and others from the past. The only one that I have had time to track down and listen to is WBGO's live recording of The Bad Plus performing 'The Rite' back in 2011 is still online for streaming. Every so often I pop by Ethan Iverson's blog "Do The Math", I missed this performance at the time so I gave this a couple of listens this week - It didn't grab me.

As you would expect, a Stravinsky/Jazz search brings up plenty on 'Ebony Concerto'  too - a quick search of YouTube provides a few of versions for those of you unfamiliar with this piece (likewise with Rite of Spring). During those searches I stumbled across "Keeping Score: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring"- a six part video (1 hour). Turns out it's from part of an educational series San Francisco Symphony & Michael Tilson Thomas did for PBS - Keeping Score.

My interest in 'The Rite Of Spring' was sparked when I heard that Charlie Parker was into Stravinsky. It was at either the city or school library that I first listened to it. Some time after that I went out and found a copy (along with Bartok's string quartets) in a record store bargain bin. For a while these were the the only classical discs I owned and they got plenty of air-time. Often I would put it on when I wanted a break from class related listening and it did the job.

Dancers Backstage 1913

Here's a link to Bird playing "Repetition" with Neal Hefti's band. Bird quotes 'Rite Of Spring' as he opens his solo. The quote appears again in a live recording from Paris in 1949 - this time a break-neck "Salt Peanuts" gets the treatment (around 1.33). If you know any other examples of Bird quoting 'Rite of Spring' please pass them on.

Over the years 'Rite of Spring' has taken a lapse from my listening (I can't remember the last time I listened to it). When I heard the 100th anniversary was coming up I decided it was the perfect time for us to get reacquainted. Over the last week, I have given it a listen each day. Where's the appeal for jazz musicians? Answers will vary, but I feel the rhythmic & poly-rhythmic elements and overall urgency of the piece have something to do with it.  The rhythmic side had stayed in my mind but I forgotten how much I enjoyed the bold melodies that leap out as well as the quieter sections. I've had fun revisiting it and doubt the breaks between future listens will be as long as they have been in the past.

Impact Recording: Charlie Parker "That's Jazz"

Part Three of the ongoing series of records that made an impact on me as a young musician. Read the others - Part One - Part two.

Charlie Parker "That's Jazz"

Not long after I started playing saxophone I hit the library to find some books about jazz. One name kept on popping up - Charlie Parker. I headed over to Tower Music and purchased the only Charlie Parker CD they had - "That's Jazz" (I believe this was my first CD purchase too).  Once home I listened to the entire disc - I felt exhausted! This was something else.... until then the jazz saxophonists I had heard were from the previous generation... Johnny Hodges, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster among others and clarinetists like Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman.  Aside from Charlie Parker's name and the track listing there was no other information provided. Who were these people and what were they doing? I had no idea. Confused.... yes! Intrigued.... yes!
I remember trying to learn some of the melodies and not having much luck..... possibly "Yardbird Suite."

Despite being rather lo-fi, two tracks stood out - "Rocker" and "The Street Beat" - both live recordings. I'm not exactly sure what it was about them. The live atmosphere - chatter, calls of encouragement, whistling etc added something. Perhaps it was Bird's soaring sound. The push and pull of this phrasing and articulation.  Who knows?
I have gone on to check out much more of Bird's work and these tracks remain favorites to this day (along with a few others!).

I would later find out that these two tracks were issued on "Complete Live at Rockland Palace" and "One Night at Birdland".... fantastic discs - check them out!