Customer Reviews

Complete Recordings

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This album chronicles the sadly few recorded encounters between two titans of 1940s jazz, Charlie Parker and Lennie Tristano. Despite the sometimes-reticence of Tristano to solo in the presence of Bird, much of the album is remarkable for the complete musical sympathy these two great musicians bring out in each other.

The first two tracks on the album are actually the last time Tristano played with Bird, an August 1951 session at Tristano's home. They chronicle the only known recorded performance by Bird of "I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me," and the only complete performance by him of "All of Me." These tracks were used by Clint Eastwood in his filmed biography of Bird, but in that instance Tristano's chording was replaced by a digitally-applied rhythm section. Much to the disappointment of Tristano fans, Lennie does not solo at all, but merely comps behind Bird, but the chords he feeds him are quite different from those Bird usually had on record. (Of Bird's other pianists, Tristano rightly commented that "Most of the kids who played piano for Bird and played in his style, they always used the same chord progression...The right chord structure is not behind him." Exceptions to this rule, of course, were the great Al Haig (Bird's favorite pianist), Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, none of whom recorded or played with him often enough. As good as the others were, they simply were not on the same musical wavelength as Bird.

The remainder of the album includes the famous 1949 Metronome All-Star session and three wonderful 1947 radio broadcasts. The Metronome tracks were previously issued on RCA Bluebird's "Complete Dizzy Gillespie" set, but here the sound is warmer, less shrill, the bass full and rich, and there is yet another alternate take of "Victory Ball" not previously issued. The airchecks are in miraculously good condition, and come from a time when the "Boppers" were still at "war" with the Dixieland musicians, known as "Moldy Figs." In each of the first two broadcasts, jazz critic Barry Ulanov represented the Boppers, Rudi Blesh the Moldy Figs. The "Figs" are not represented here but, to be fair to them, their number included two of the very greatest improvisers of the era, trumpeter Wild Bill Davison and clarinetist Edmond Hall, so their music could not have been nearly as anachronistic as the media-created "duel" would lead you to believe.

In the first encounter, the Boppers and Figs each chose their own material. The group of Dizzy, Bird, John LaPorta, Tristano, Billy Bauer, Ray Brown and Max Roach (talk about All-Stars!!) play their hearts out on "Hot House," "I Surrender Dear" and "Fine and Dandy." In the second, the Figs required the Boppers to play old standards, "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "How Deep is the Ocean?," and, wonder of wonders, "Tiger Rag"! You cannot imagine, without hearing it, how this group tears into Nick LaRocca's old chestnut - top speed, engines revved up to full ahead, no holds barred. Both Bird and Tristano contribute their absolute hottest solos in this track. Listeners calling in chose the Boppers as winners of this contest - small wonder. I doubt there has ever been a "Tiger Rag" like this in the entire history of recording.

As part of their "celebration," the Boppers were brought back on November 8 for a concert all by themselves, but the results are not quite as synergistic. Dizzy, Brown and Roach were unavailable; their replacements, Fats Navarro, Tommy Potter and Buddy Rich, play their hearts out, and Allen Eager is added on tenor sax for the occasion (as is Sarah Vaughan, who gets to sing one number, "Everything I Have is Yours"), but in this case the musicians are given solo spotlights rather than ensemble improvisations. Still, it IS Lennie with Bird, and Navarro is his usual brilliant self.

Highly recommended to all lovers of great jazz.

Maybe this album should have been called "The All Star Metronome Jazzmen". Of course to most people Bird and Tristano are the key players on this thing. But to be precise: apart from two tracks recorded at Tristano's place in 1951 (featuring Kenny Clarke on a telephone book), this is a complete rendering of the appearance of the band the All Star Metronome Jazzmen in 1947 in the so called "battle of styles", broad casted in the Mutual Network show "Bands for Bonds" (some kind of charity thing), and its aftermath in 1949, a studio recording of the same band. As to the contributions of Tristano and Bird: Tristano is not playing many solos and Parker does not play the central role.

The All Star Metronome Jazzmen were a fusion of two bands, a "black" band around Dizzy Gillespie and a "white" band around Lennie Tristano. The battle was not between the blacks and the whites, but between the All Stars (a modern band) and a similarly composed swing style band. The band had to deal with some constraints due to the fact that this was a radio broadcast. There are some long solo's, but there is also some obviously "composed" stuff. Maybe the constraints forced the band to perform at such an outstanding high level as they did, anyway, the result is one of the more interesting albums in Jazz history. (I do not think it is a coincidence that the cover of Berliners' book Thinking in Jazz : The Infinite Art of Improvisation (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology Series) and the inner cover of Mark Levines' The Jazz Theory Book, both feature a picture taken at the 1949 session of band.)

I do not know if the efforts of the swing style band have been recorded and/or put on cd. In any case The All Star Metronome Jazzmen were the winners of the battle.

The Tristano centered band at the first two sessions was: Lennie Tristano (p), Billie Bauer (g) and John LaPorta (cl).

The Dizzy band was: Dizzy Gilespie (tp), Charlie Parker (as) Ray Brown (b) and Max Roach (d).

At the later radio session, the "Stars" included: Fats Navarro (tp), Allen Eager (ts), Tommy Potter (b), Buddy Rich (d), Sarah Vaughan (vc)

The last session, in which two highly arranged tunes (Overtime and Victory Ball) were recorded, was conducted be Pete Rugolo. Additional personal in this session were: Miles Davis (tp), Jay Jay Johnson (tbs), Kay Winding (tbs), Buddy DeFranco (cl), Charlie Ventura (ts), Ernie Carceres (bs), Eddie Safransky (b) and Shelly Manne (d).

Of course there is much good music to listen to on this album, but my favorite thing is the guitar playing of Billy Bauer (guess my instrument).

Yes, the king of hot and the father of cool jamming together. The audio quality is what you would expect for 1947-1951. Tristano is a bit solo shy is seems, but the way he accompanies Parker is nothing short of genius. It is obvious these men had a great respect for each other's different interpretation of swing. Well worth any serious jazz fan's dollar.

Charlie Parker and Lenny Tristano! Two of the sublime geniuses of jazz! The apex of hot and the acme of cool! And playing with an all-star band! How could it not be great!

But it isn't, at least to my ears. What I don't hear is "ensemble" - supportive interaction, shared musical insights. Bird plays, then Gillespie or Navarro or someone else plays, and meanwhile Tristano is there at the keyboard, a blind 'composer' amid the wrong festivity. Perhaps it's absurd to expect 'ensemble' from a Metronome voted-on all-star cast. Other reviewers and critics talk about the 'mutual respect' between Parker and Tristano, and I have no reason to doubt that it existed. But what I hear on this CD suggests a respect at arm's length.

I've had this recording for quite a while but seldom listen to it. That's perhaps the most telling comment I can make about it.

Lennie's solo on "I can't believe" is absolutely thrilling.

The two tracks with Kenny Clarke are masterworks.

Absolute gems.

Tristano and Bird had an obvious affinity.