Customer Reviews

Complete Jazz at Massey Hall

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

 

 

Other than excerpts available here on Amazon, I haven't actually heard either the Original Jazz Classics CD of this concert or the Debut 20-bit remastered version of it. Based solely on the description, however, I instead ordered THIS CD, and I am very glad I did. Here's why:

1. In addition to the 6 quintet tracks on the other CD's, THIS CD includes 8 additional tracks from the concert, including a 4-and-a-half-minute self-contained drum solo by Max Roach, and 6 great tracks by a trio of Powell, Mingus, and Roach (Cherokee, Embraceable You, Halleluja, Sure Thing, Lullaby of Birdland, and I've Got You Under My Skin). Also, according to the liner notes, all 14 tracks are in the order in which they were performed at the concert.

2. NONE OF MINGUS' OVERDUBBED BASS is included on THIS CD. You can still hear him, though, but much more naturally than he sounds on the overdubbed Original Jazz Classics excerpts I've heard here on Amazon.

3. According to the notes on this CD's case, the "original analogue masters have been digitally transferred at 24 bit resolution, processed using Sonic Solutions NoNoise technology and mastered to 16 bit for CD using prism SNS Noise Shaping." Whatever that means, the sound for the most part is great. Some of the tracks start a bit abruptly, and the sound on the 6 trio tracks is variable, but the sound quality of the 6 quintet tracks is phenomenal. Again, there is no Mingus overdubbing present, and--especially when Bird and Diz are playing--the sound has great clarity and presence. There is no real audible tape hiss except when only the rhythm section is playing and the levels are raised a bit. In general, the sound is far from perfect, but is pretty amazing given the time and circumstances of the original recording.

4. This CD is very nicely packaged and presented, including a 12-page pamphlet with extensive notes about and photos of the concert.

To sum up, not knowing what to expect from this import when I ordered it, I was very pleasantly surprised by the extremely high quality of both the sound and the packaging. I would highly recommend it, instead of or in addition to the other available CD's, for anyone who wants a more complete and accurate recording of the Massey Hall concert.

Everybody should thanks Mingus for taping this concert. It was an unique reunion of the greatest musicians of an era: Charlie "Bird" Parker, Dizzy Gillepsie, Bud Powell, Max Roach and Mingus himself. A memorable night in which they show the public(about 700 persons acording to the booklet) the magic of their music and their amazing musicianship.

Ironically, the problems started when Mingus decided to record the live session. He did a terrible job and the resulting mix almost eliminited the sound of his bass. So he dubbed it later, affecting the entire sound and pitch of the music. That's what you got when you purchase "Live at Massey Hall" A live performance must be a live performance. Overdubbing is not an option to me, it's like cheating. "Complete live at Massey Hall" is a gret product because it presents the concert as it was: The tracks appear in the order they were performed with a more natural sound. Beware, the sound quality of the CD is not not the best, but it's enough to identify the instruments and enjoy the wonderful performance of these great musicians.

What I can say about the concert? The tracks appear in the right order. If you listen the concert from the beginning to the end you can feel that the band is increasing their level, reaching the musical climax in "A Night in Tunisia": Incredible Charlie Parker saxo chops, Gillespie groundbreaking trumpet solo, Powell rythm section hot as hell, Mingus bass lines sounding loud and clear and Max Roach's drums section in perfect sinchronicity with the band. It's true that some of the tracks reach that musical peak and that a few of them sound erratic and chaotic, but still it's a great concert. My favorite themes are: Salt peanuts, Wee and Hot House.

Packaging of this edition please me a lot. As a graphic designer I can tell you that I prefer it to the standard version (the B&W cover) The liner notes included in this edition give details about the concert itself, the problems between musicians, and the conditions in which the concert was realized.

"Complete Jazz at Massey Hall" is a pefect oportunity to hear the best musicians of the bebop era performing together in an unforgetable, magic night.

The recent hype about the discovery of the Diz-Bird concert at Town Hall in 1945 led me to compare it with their other two "live" recordings: the Carnegie Hall concert of 1947 and the Massey Hall concert of 1953. Give the nod to the Massey Hall date. The audio, though admittedly problematic, still has more "presence" than the other two dates; the solos are both more extended and more inspired; the overall level of musicianship is inarguably of a higher order (Bud Powell clearly blows away both Al Haig and John Lewis, the pianists on the other two recordings).

This edition is the closest you'll get to the original event--in terms of the programming as well as the original audio recording made by Mingus. Unlike the better-known Debut/OJC edition, this Spanish import dispenses with Mingus' later overdubbing of his bass part, has more "presence" in the treble frequencies (Roach's drum kit and the crowd ambiance are more noticeable along with slightly brighter horns), and contains 24 additional minutes of music. Any listener who first discovered Diz in the '60's (my situation) is likely to experience some eye-opening moments at hearing him on all three concert recordings with Bird. In his prime he clearly was at least the equal of Charlie Parker and very likely the greatest jazz trumpet player of all time.

Footnote: It's of particular interest to listen carefully to Bird's 4-bar break on "Night in Tunisia" on all three recordings. The 1947 Carnegie Hall date is simply unreal--a microcosmic moment of pure genius. On the Town Hall date he's fast and flashy but not as linguistically rich and complex; on the Massey Hall date he eschews pyrotechnics in favor of majestic statement.

I can hear his bass perfectly well! This is possibly the most famous jazz concert EVER recorded - the Massey Hall concert has over the years gained an almost beatific reputation which sort of spoils you for the real thing.

The performance took place under a cloud, with Bird and Diz still refusing to speak to each other, and various members of the band skipping backstage every now and again to check out a big boxing match on TV!

Nevertheless the concert is a thing of beauty. I love especially Salt Peanuts and All the Things, as well as Dizzy's trumpet soloing on Night in Tunisia.

The old problem with this disc is that of sound. Charlie Mingus put the microphone under the stage, and was typically angry when he listened to the recording and thought his own bass was inaudible. He then ovrdubbed his bass on the released record.

Whatever the truth of that, this CD rereleases the entire concert (minus two permanently lost tracks) in a 24 bit remastered edition without Mingus' overdub. Hearing it, I wonder what Mingus was complaining about. True, the piano tracks are a little muffled, but the horn tracks (seven tracks) are loud and sharp, with tape hiss being perhaps the biggest problem. And yes, I can clearly hear the bass!

Full marks for this historical artefact.

Once again, disappointment strikes with "event" concerts, no matter what genre of music they're in. Previously I had the vinyl version with the overdubbing, and never thought maybe I didn't dig it because of the bass, which always did sound like it was in another room to me. Admittedly this way of hearing it *is* better, but this is still not a "recording to end all recordings" or anything close. I've heard that Bird and Diz, long having gone their separate ways, were barely speaking to each other on this night. It shows. There's little interplay, little of the joy of spontaneous creation so vital to jazz. Instead I hear a group of men who were paid to play this gig and are fulfilling a contract. Also Roach sounds stiff--unusual for him--and bangy in the quintet numbers. The Powell trio pieces fare better, and they are the highlight of the album, but for Parker and Dizzy there are far better recordings out there than this outing, with its long patches where they just quote to fill time or repeat simple phrases over and over. After listening to the recently unearthed Bird and Dizzy material from Town Hall in June of 1945, with a Salt Peanuts that simply has to be heard to be believed, the tiredness of this night becomes all the more apparent. This is one of those albums whose legend, I think, has superceded its musical content, and must be listened to again with cold, objective ears. I'm sure I'll get a lot of dissenting votes from the cultists, but so be it.

Simply put, "Complete Jazz at Massey Hall" contains one of three essential Charlie Parker concerts now available on CD, the May 15, 1953 concert at Massey Hall.

Only seven tracks here (the first four and the last three) feature Parker (with Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Bud Powell on piano, Charles Mingus on bass, and Max Roach on drums); one track (#5) is a self-contained drum solo (by Roach), and six tracks (#6-#11) are trio pieces featuring the incomparable Bud P (with Mingus & Roach).

The extraordinary trio pieces alone would make this CD worthwhile, but Bird & Diz are simply amazing on at least five of the seven quintet pieces (of the remaining two, "All the Things You Are" is a bit of a mess, and "52nd Street Theme" is less than 45 seconds long).

This Massey Hall CD (a Spanish import from the Jazz Factory, which also produced the indispensible "Bud Powell: Complete 1947-1951 Blue Note, Verve & Roost Sessions") features sound quality which, while nowhere near perfect, is surprisingly clear, bright, and present, and actually superior to the sound on two other essential Parker concerts, the May 15/16, 1950 Birdland concert (with Parker, Powell, Fats Navarro, Curley Russell, and Art Blakey), and the Sept 29, 1947 Carnegie Hall concert (with CP, Gillespie, John Lewis, Al McKibbon, and Joe Harris).

While the remastered sound of the 1947 Carnegie Hall concert is particularly appealing on the "Charlie Parker: The Complete Live Performances on Savoy" box set, the piano is very poorly miked, so much so you barely hear John Lewis at all. Which leaves a gap, a hole, in a song like "Confirmation," where you're listening through the inaudible piano solo, waiting for the real music making to return. Still, we have five quintet pieces from Carnegie that are among Parker's greatest live performances.

The sound quality of the May 1950 Birdland concert on "Charlie Parker at Birdland, Vol. 1" is clearly the worst of the three concerts, but the music making is electric. Bud Powell is on fire at Birdland--his inventiveness is at least the equal of Parker's. Which is to say, it is among the most masterful, the most intricate, the most engaging in the history of jazz. Indeed, it is Powell's playing, in particular, that keeps me coming back again and again to the Birdland concert--or maybe it's the way in which Powell and Parker and Navarro seem to be feeding off one another; all three are on fire, all three are playing at the very peak of their powers, and so you begin to feel immersed in the brilliance of the invention as it surrounds you on all three sides, alto sax, trumpet, and piano.

By contrast, the Massey and Carnegie concerts are principally about the soaring brilliance of two musicians: Bird and Diz, even though Powell himself is present at Massey Hall. Don't get me wrong, Bud P in 1953 (or 1950) is almost always brilliant, and his playing at Massey Hall is clearly exceptional, but it is in the trio pieces at Massey where Powell really shines.

Some might argue that there is a fourth essential Parker concert on CD: the recently unearthed recording of the June 22, 1945 concert at Town Hall (with CP, Gillespie, Don Byas, Al Haig, Curley Russell, Max Roach & Sid Catlett). And while the playing at Town Hall is indeed brilliant (and while the recording itself has major historical significance), I don't think it's nearly as compelling, nor as essential, as the playing at Massey Hall in 1953, Carnegie Hall in 1947, or Birdland in 1950.

All of which is to say, while there are numerous Parker concerts I enjoy listening to (such as the Royal Roost concerts in 1948 & 1949, the amazing pick-up concert in Chicago on October 23, 1950, as well as the seminal 1945 Town Hall concert), I don't think I could do without the concerts at Massey or Carnegie or Birdland.

I've heard so many versions of this great show, and this is the best. It doesn't have the Mingus overdubs, just his orginal playing, quite audible and solid all told; it has all the Bud Powell trio tracks, which may be the highlight excepting a few of Bird's solos; and it has the show in its original order, with excellent remastering (it was a poor wire recording off a bad PA, but still sounds purty good). Thank God it was recorded, in any case....imagine the unverifiable legends that would have developed had it not been.

This ain't the Greatest Jazz Concert Ever, but it may be the Greatest Lineup Ever! These five were THE bop pioneers, and they all have their moments here. As a Bird fanatic, I favor his solos on All The Things and Tunisia (oh that awesome sinuous little break, still untouched), but despite their various levels of intoxication, everyone plays near the limits of their incredible talents. Bud absolutely rips. Max's solo is very solid indeed. Diz is both hilarious and plays his butt off.

All in all, this is the best version of the one and only show from a ridiculously talented band. As a Bird fan, I prefer his playing on some of his studio dates, the woefully underrated Bird With Strings, and his killer Roseland '53 show, but Bird playing merely well is better than most anyone else on their best night.

If you dig bop or great playing in general at all, this must be in your collection. It is the sound of joyous jazz freedom.

This has been dubbed "the greatest jazz concert ever", based on the superstar lineup of Bird, Diz, Bud, Mingus, and Max. Although a good concert, I don't agree that it lives up to this billing. First of all, the selection of tunes was rather hackneyed by 1953, basically a reprise of many of the original bebop classics from the mid-40's when Bird and Diz played together regularly, before personal and external factors pulled them apart. Thus one gets the distinct impression of having heard it all before, with minor variations. Second, by May 1953 Bird was definitely not the same musician, still a virtuoso but with declining powers of inspiration, capable of greatness on any given night, but increasingly given to repeating himself on a stock selection of tunes from his glory days. Third, the recording quality leaves much to be desired.

There are some remarkable moments. (How could there not be when Bird and Diz played together?) My favorite is the beginning of Bird's solo on Salt Peanuts, a sly repetition of a single phrase which develops enormous momentum and turbocharges the rest of the solo. But there are much better recordings of Bird and Diz together. Try the recently discovered Town Hall Concert of June 1945, which captures these two musicians at the peak of their powers, when bebop was still fresh and revolutionary.

This concert has the makings of something quite magical. Five of the best bebop musicians ever, taking to the same stage. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to it's potential. Apparently Bird, Diz, and Powell were all drunk...with Bird being the worst offender. And Diz kept leaving the stage to go watch a big heavyweight boxing match that was being broadcast. Bird also forgot to bring his sax so he was playing a cheap alto borrowed from a local music store. Bud was on leave from a mental institution and required supervision, so he wasn't exactly at his best to start with. Moreover, Bird and Diz left the stage for more than half the concert leaving just a trio performing. Max was impeccables that night, however, playing an amazing set with some powerful solos. Mingus was tight as well, at least as much as could be heard. The sound recording is ok on 3 or 4 tunes and dreadful on the rest.

This recording is sad because it had so much potential. If it was recorded properly and the musicians in shape and wanting to perform at their best this could have been one for the ages. As it is, you get some decent bebop from three drunk guys (one of them being a mental patient), and a fantastic rhythm section recorded by an amateur through a third rate PA system at Massey Hall. So this recording is nice but hardly magical.

I don't know why there are so many 5 star reviews as the music is just average, and the sound well below average for the time. I suspect that they're based on what the concert should have been based on the players, not what it is.