Customer Reviews

Diz N Bird at Carnegie Hall

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Don't let the recent discovery and hype surrounding the 1945 Gillespie-Parker Town Hall concert discourage you from picking up the 1947 Carnegie Hall concert. The audio quality isn't markedly inferior to either the Town Hall or Massey Hall dates, and the playing by Bird and Diz is not only worlds apart from the 1945 encounter but in some instances is superior to the later, Massey Hall performance.

Listen carefully to Bird's four-bar break on "Night in Tunisia," which Martin Williams analyzed in "The Jazz Tradition." Bird alters the meter and tempo ever so slightly, an aerialist who communicates the sense of being suspended in time and space, yet suddenly becoming reanimated just in time for the first beat of the chorus. It's very likely the most melodically-rhythmically complex four bars of improvised music every recorded, deserving a place right alongside Louis Armstrong's famous cadenza at the start of "West End Blues." You won't hear anything near this level of complexity on the Town Hall session, recorded two years earlier, let alone on any non-Parker performance. (Side-by-side comparisons of Bird's break with that of numerous other "name" saxophone players at the same juncture on the same tune inevitably is a disservice to the "pretenders." Listen, for example, to Lou Donaldson with Clifford Brown on "Art Blakey at Birdland, Vol. 1." Embarrassingly awful jive--merely meaningless motion.)

The remainder of the recording gives ample evidence of the heat and mastery of Bird as well as Diz (their unison ensembles defy credibility even today). And even though Bird gets more playing time in the small-group setting, there's enough heard from Diz to bolster the case of any listener who wishes to maintain that he was superior to Parker as an improviser (an argument I still have with some musicians).

Ignore the reviews that complain about the sound quality or the limited number of tunes featuring Bird. This contains some of the most exciting and significant Bird and Diz on record--if your ears are up to the challenge.

This is an awesome sounding CD for a live concert that was recorded almost fifty years ago (considering the studio technology back in 1947). Besides the fact that the CD sounds good, it also "sounds" good. Charlie Parker is, as always, awesome, and Dizzy is spectacular as well. While these men had their ups and downs between one another, they sure sound great together. Moreover, Bird and Diz also play well off of one another in a live performance, and this performance demonstrates this quite well. For instance, on track 2 "Dizzy Atmosphere" both players ping pong off of one another with great speed and brilliance. Track (#2) is in my opinion, the best on the CD. Overall, the music is moving, fast, heart felt, and wonderful. This is a great CD to add to your Jazz collection.

This is one of the few live recordings made of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie from the period when Parker was at his height. The west coast recordings made in California are scrappy, most likely due to the fact that Parker was strung out and could barely lift his horn. On this recording though, Parker is sensational. His tone is bright and uplifting. His phrasing soars and he is continually inventive; his lyricism is clear and concise and never falling back on his well known staple of licks, a tendency which characterised his later live recordings.(ie: Bird at St Nick's) Dizzy is also in fine form. My personal favourite is 'Dizzy Atmosphere'. It is taken at a furious tempo and Parker laps it up. His lines are long, rich and complex and really deserve the title 'sheets of sound' (which was coined by Ira Gitler to describe Coltrane in his pre quartet years.) The recordings have a fine jam session feel and really warm the heart. There are two drawbacks to this album. Firstly, the sound quality of the rhythm section is often so poor it is inaudible. This is particularly evident on 'Ko Ko', where Parker sounds almost as though his is practicing sets of scales unaccompanied. Without the rhythm, this sounds quite boring. Secondly, three quarters of the album is taken up by Gillespie and his big band playing watered down versions of bebop classics. However, the cd is worth purchasing for the Gillespie/Parker sides only. If you are looking for a complete Gillespie/Parker concert which has better sound quality and features more bebop greats, let me direct you to 'The Quintet: Jazz at Massey Hall', recording in the early fifties. Parker, however, due to his deteriorating physical and mental conditions is not quite as good as on this recording.

Yes this only has five tracks, but come on people it's Bird. These five tracks are golden. The solo on A Night in Tunisia is by far my favorite of all the others I've ever heard. I own the Complete Dean Benedetti recording and that has some solos on this song and this bypasses all of those. If you heard the recording he made with Miles and Lucky Thompson on Dial you are all ready familiar with "the break". On this recording he plays the same break as on the dial recording, but screams at the end of it with a million times the energy. That's just one of the tracks! He plays KoKo and Dizzy Atmosphere at break neck speed. And he sails through Grovin' High. Its one of my favorite live materials ever. Get it!

I would rate this as one of the top 5 live jazz albums of all time. Bird and Diz are only together for the first five tunes, but don't let that deter you. They really tear it up on every song and Bird's amazing solo on "Confirmation" is probably the highlight. The remainder of the tracks is Dizzy Gillespie with his big band and while those songs aren't as exciting as the ones he does with Charlie Parker, they are still excellent. So if you're a jazz fan and you don't own this, get it. It belongs in every jazz fan's collection.

The CD is somewhat misstated to gain notoriety but who cares with great music..The 1st 5 tracks are the reunion of Diz n Bird at Carnegie Hall (1947)and the remainder the big band set..The liner notes clearly mentions that Ella Fitzgerald was singing on 6 selections omitted here as well as other selections either unrecorded properly or intentionally omitted.

The sound quality is not the best, but it was recorded in 1947 at a live concert, what do you expect? The playing on this CD is HISTORICAL! Just listen to the last bridge of Confirmation on Parker's solo. And probably the most popular of them all, Parker's solo on KoKo. If you are a bebop enthusiast, you have got to get this!

I think that the quintet tracks on this album, which over the years have been released in a variety of forms and coupled with a variety of other material, are among the greatest jazz performances of all time. In particular, the playing and improvising in Night in Tunisia is at the highest level and, I would argue, Parker's entrance in Groovin' High is the greatest two bars of jazz in existence. I don't think it much matters what else is on the CD.

This cd has five tracks of a quintet then ten more of big band music. In the quintet, Parker and Gillespie are in top form, but you can't hear the rhythm section well, especially the piano. The big band recordings don't survive the sound problems. If you are a diehard fan you may want this album. If you are looking for one or two cds that are good well-rounded examples of this kind of playing you might give this one a pass.

after listening to the first five tracks on this cd, there is no doubt why Charlie Parker is the greatest Saxaphone player ever. nuff said.