Customer Reviews

Bebop and Bird, Vol. 1

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most of the tracks on this CD were recorded on May 15/16, 1950, live from Birdland (some musicologists say that they could be from later in 1950 or from 1949). The group is unique, and this is the only known session where Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro, and Bud Powell play together. The bassist is Curly Russell and the drummer Art Blakey; could one ask for more? Many of the tracks have appeared over the years on obscure labels, such as Le Jazz Cool (LP), in the late 1950s, and Pair (CD) in 1989.

There is one track that stands out above all others, and that is the almost eight minute version of "Ornithology"; the CD is worth buying for this magnificent track alone. Bird's playing is inspired, and he propels the group into orbit. His solo is raw, incisive, and he dissects the harmonic structure of the tune (based, of course, on "How High the Moon") like a skilled musical surgeon, tossing phrases around with bold rhythmic complexity. Fats' solo, by comparison, is laid back, cool, yet as it moves along he establishes tension and excitement through understatement, which sets it apart from Dizzy's approach. It is regrettable that Bird and Fats were not paired in other venues and on other recordings. Fats' melodic lines here are profoundly moving, poetic, and he creates them in perhaps the most elegant and lyrical trumpet style of all the modernists, with his characteristic "disappearing" high notes. Bud enters in a quietly appreciative way after Fats finishes his narrative, but within just a few bars he is on fire. But this is no pyrotechnic tour de force; everything he lays down has a purpose. The touch is Bach-like, as if Gould had suddenly become a hipster. His solo is one of the greatest jazz piano performances you will ever hear. Listen to it a few times. You'll hear new ideas and nuances with each listening: the angular expressive leaps, the closely conjoined notes, the tension-creating use of space, all in the service of a spontaneously and perfectly conceived composition. And when Bird returns to trade phrases with Fats, it is clear he has been inspired by the gauntlet that Bud has laid down. He passionately tears into the exchange, quoting from "Mexican Hat Dance" and "Carmen," with Fats, ever cool, giving back as much as he takes in. When they return to the theme, and to earth, from this stratospheric excursion, Bird even plays a spontaneous harmony line against Fats.

By most standards, the sound on these sessions (mastered from tape) is execrable. Bud's intro will almost scare you with its chilling tones. Yet you almost feel as though you're at Birdland, especially when someone calls out "Go, Baby!" at the beginning of Bird's solo (the cognoscenti say that it was Little Jimmy Scott). Listen to the track at high volume in surround sound. You'll feel as though you were at this remarkable gig. All other group versions of "Ornithology" pale in comparison to this one. Ross Russell had to admit that it was superior to the versions he produced with Parker on Dial some four years earlier. It is quintessential bebop and musically one of the most complex and satisfying pieces you will ever hear. How many stars? As many as you can imagine!

This is certainly one of my favourite Bird albums, amongst so many brilliant. It is as good or maybe even better than Bird at St. Nicks, which is from around the same time in Birds carrier. It doesn't have quite the virtuousity of say, "The Rockland Palace" concert - but on the other hand the whole album has a unique "Jam session" charm, that you don't get in the big concert recordings, and it does show Bird in his most free, creative, inspired and experimental moments.

"This is how Bebop is supposed to sound", you think, listening to this album - but it is actually a rare moment in recorded jazz. You wont find that many recordings by Bird that fully compare to this one. It is really a unique, but probably not fully recognized jewel. I think the complexity and poor sound deter many from appreciating its real value. And it is really challenging to listen to, much more than, say the Savoy recordings or other studio stuff.

Around 1950, I believe Bird achieved new heights in his musical development. There is a notable shift away from the idiom of riffs from his Swing era legacy and his improvisations are gradually becoming more abstract and complex. On this album, he is truly free in his expression, there is no routine playing at all; every bit of it is inspired. And it really applies to the whole band. Bud, Fats, Blakey - and Russell; they are just cooking. And as rightly mentioned, despite the "wildness" of the playing, it is also very lyrical by all of them.

I actually think Blakey has a large part to play in the result of this concert. I cannot think of another drummer with the same drive. Part of the magic of this album lies in Blakey's beat, which I think is why it sort of reminds me of the fameous "One night in Birdland" album with his Messengers just a couple of years later. Very much the same atmosphere. Blakey had a notorious ability to get out the best of his sidemen. A shame we don't have too many recordings with Bird and Blakey together.

I used to listen a lot to this album, when I was young. As mentioned by David, you really feel you are there. A girlfriend of mine at that time remarked that it sounded as "mars men communicating with tentacles". Well, why not? How to describe such music. It is probably pretty inaccessible, unless you are a hard core Bebop fanatic, in which case you totally ignore the sound quality.

"A veritable definition of Bebop", so says the cover notes, I think by Nat Hentoff. Anyway they are also worth mentioning, beautiful and accurate words about this fantastic music.

It is truly one of the absolute landmarks of Bebop, when it was at its height.

Bird live (at least as documented on record) is, if anything, more amazing than Bird in the studio. Half of this CD was recorded from a live radio broadcast of Parker's band with Bud Powell and Fats Navarro (the latter a few of weeks from dying of TB and still superb). Music is predictably amazing, but since the recording source is probably a wire recorder set up next to a radio the quality is pretty bad (though far from the worst I've heard). So I'd still point a newcomer to any of the versions of the Dial recordings or to the Definitive Classics import The Complete Savoy Sessions (Savoy Jazz' reissue series has been a total mess). But bebop lovers with patience for Dean Benedetti-level recording quality will be in seventh heaven.