LOS
ANGELES, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Throughout
his brief but influential life, Charlie "Bird" Parker made
an enormous impact on popular music as one of the architects of
modern jazz. The jazz titan, inarguably one of the greatest
saxophonists of all time, grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and spent much of his
adult life in New York, but
Los Angeles nonetheless looms
large in his musical life as he spent more time in L.A. than
anywhere outside of K.C. and N.Y. From 1945-1954, Parker made half
a dozen trips to the City of Angels and recorded many of his
greatest musical triumphs there. In December
1945, Parker and Dizzy Gillespie changed music
forever by bringing the sound of bebop from the East Coast to the
West Coast for a fabled two-month residency at Billy Berg's Supper Club in
Hollywood billed as "Bebop Invades
the West." Entranced by the city, Parker would end up staying for
an extended amount of time in which he gigged all around town, was
recorded at a Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) concert and
made some pivotal recordings for the nascent Dial label
before he was committed to Camarillo State Mental Hospital for a
six-month stint for his heroin addiction, following a drug-fueled
physical and mental collapse at the infamous July 29, 1946 "Lover Man" session. Shortly
after being released in January 1947,
Bird would stick around a few more months, which included a
well-documented two-week engagement at the Hi-De-Ho Club, before
heading back to NYC. He would return to L.A. four more times,
briefly in November 1948 with JATP,
for a three-month stay during the summer of 1952, and for shorter
visits in 1953 and 1954.
For the first-time ever, Charlie
Parker's prolific and historic first three trips to
Los Angeles have been collected
together as Bird In L.A., a 28-track
collection of mostly unreleased and incredibly rare recordings that
is being released on 2CD or 4LP black vinyl via Verve/UMe,
exclusively as an RSD First for Record Store Day Black
Friday, November 26th.
The albums will be available at participating independent record
shops or available to order online from select retailers. Visit
recordstoreday.com to find participating locations.
Recorded between 1945 and 1952, the performances collected on
Bird In L.A, and presented chronologically, are highlighted
by the only known recordings from Billy
Berg's on December 17, 1945,
three previously unknown JATP recordings from the Shrine Auditorium
on November 22, 1948 and the complete
recordings of the legendary July 1952
party at Jirayr Zorthian's
bohemian Altadena ranch. The
collection includes comprehensive track info detailing recording
dates and personnel and is rounded out with illuminating liner
notes by the album's producer, John
Burton, who provides an in-depth history of Bird's
fruitful time in L.A. as well as the significance of these
incredible recordings.
Although Bird and Dizzy performed at Billy Berg's for a two
month stretch, no recordings of the performances have ever surfaced
until now, despite being broadcast live on local radio. These
recordings, capturing a cross-section of the December 17th program, presented here for the
first time in their entirety and mastered from the original discs,
come from a pair of homemade 10-inch acetate discs discovered by
Bird detectives extraordinaire Bob
Bregman and Norman Saks, aka
"Yardbird, Inc." As Burton exclaims in the liners, "What follows
is, in my opinion, among the most incredible of all Parker
recordings, alone worth the purchase of this set. Instead of the
rapid unison line 'Ornithology,' Gillespie and Bird play the
traditional 'How High the Moon' theme, but in a call and response
fashion that is quite rare in their recorded collaborations. Bird
begins his solo with staccato notes that are like the stomping of a
foot to get attention before he unleashes a perfectly executed
flurry leading into a lyrical solo blown with such strength that
one hears the distortion as the home recorder red-lines. At the end
of the first chorus Gillespie exhorts 'Go, go, go, go!' and Bird
takes another chorus before a chorus by Jackson and then a fiery
solo by Gillespie, cut short at the end of its first chorus when
the cutter ran out of space."
The first half of Bird In LA also includes recordings
from Parker and Gillespie's performance for the Armed Forces Radio
Service "Jubilee" show in December
1945; a compact arrangement of "Salt Peanuts" from
NBC's nationally broadcast variety show "Drene Time,"
sponsored by Proctor and Gamble to promote Drene shampoo; five
songs recorded at The Finale Club in Little Tokyo with the
Charlie Parker Quintet, featuring Miles Davis and Joe Albany; a blistering version of
"Cherokee" recorded for the AFRS "Jubilee" in March or
April 1946 with accompaniment of the
Nat "King" Cole Trio and
Buddy Rich; and concludes
with three previously unknown recordings of Bird at The Shrine with
Jazz At The Philharmonic. While the performance has been widely
panned for being substandard for Parker, it is included here for
historical reasons or as Burton explains, "Because they are Bird.
Every surviving fragment by this giant should be available for
study. Off nights such as the Shrine help us appreciate and
understand his greatest achievements all the better."
The second half of this riveting musical time capsule captures
two performances from Jirayr
Zorthian's ranch in Altadena: the now infamous July 14, 1952 party where it's alleged Parker,
his bandmates and most of the audience stripped off their clothes
at a rowdy late night gathering at Zorthian's 27-acre hilltop
ranch, located in the foothills above Pasadena, and a second performance two weeks
later, with a young 22-year-old Chet
Baker on trumpet, in one of his first recordings.
Zorthian, an eccentric artist who passed away in 2004 at 92
following a life that included surviving the Armenian genocide as a
child and graduating from Yale, loved
to talk about that fateful fete. As he once personally regaled
Burton, the party was held on a Monday when the musicians were not
working and Bird who arrived characteristically late insisted on
skinny dipping in the ranch swimming pool before playing. Several
songs into the band's performance, which included spirited version
of "A Night In Tunisia" and
"Ornithology," Zorthian yells out "take it off" and Bird
obliges, leading to many others to disrobe and making a wild party
even wilder. The performance was recorded by the brother of Bird's
friend, the artist Julie McDonald,
and it was sourced from Zorthian's personal second-generation tape
recording.
The Zorthian party, along with many of Parker's other L.A.
adventures are brought to vivid life in Z2 Comics' innovative
graphic novel, "Chasin' the Bird," released to widespread
acclaimed last year in honor of Parker's 100th birthday.
Beautifully told by writer/artist Dave
Chisholm and colored by DreamWorks Animation Director
Peter Markowski, the novel
adapts one of the sunnier, but darker chapters in the life of Bird
as it explores Bird's relationship with the characters and events
he encountered during his time in L.A. including recording some of
his signature songs, a brief but influential stay at the home of
famed jazz photographer William
Claxton, and many others who found themselves in the orbit
of the jazz genius.
Experienced together, Bird In L.A. serves as the perfect
soundtrack and companion piece to the graphic novel. On its own,
the emergence of the rare recordings on Bird In L.A.
represent a major cultural event and a significant addition to the
Parker catalog.
charlieparkermusic.com
Bird In L.A.
tracklisting:
CD:
Disc One
December 17, 1945
Billy Berg's Supper Club,
Hollywood, California
Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra Featuring Charlie Parker
Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, tpt, Charlie
Parker, as, Milt Jackson, vb,
Al Haig, pno, Ray Brown, bs, Stan
Levey, dr, except 2, Harry "The Hipster" Gibson, pno and
vocal, Slim Gaillard, MC, Billy
Berg, closing announcement
1. Intro over I Waited for You into How High the Moon
(incomplete) 4:11
2. Intro dialogue with Gibson into Handsome Harry the Hipster
(incomplete) (no
Parker)
4:15
3. Cement Mixer (fragment) into Intro into Blues
(fragment) 1:20
4. Dizzy Atmosphere (fragment) (no Parker
improvisation)
1:04
5. FiftySecond Street Theme into closing
announcement
1:53
Possibly December 10, 17, or 29,
1945
AFRS "Jubilee," NBC Studios, Hollywood,
California
Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra Featuring Charlie Parker
Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, tpt, Charlie
Parker, as, Al Haig, pno,
Ray Brown, bs, Stan Levey, dr, Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, MC
6. Groovin' High into announcement
5:47
7. Intro dialogue with Gillespie into Shaw 'Nuff into
announcement 4:51
Add Milt Jackson, vb
8. Intro dialogue with Gillespie into Dizzy Atmosphere into
announcement
4:36
January 24, 1946
"Drene Time," NBC Studios, Hollywood,
California
Dizzy Gillespie Septet
Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, tpt and voc, Charlie Parker, as, Lucky Thompson, ts,
Milt Jackson, vb, Al Haig, pno, Ray
Brown, bs, Stan Levey, dr,
Rudy Vallee and Harry "The Hipster"
Gibson MCs
9. Intro dialogue between Vallee and Gibson into Salt
Peanuts 3:40
MidMarch 1946
The Finale Club, Little Tokyo, Los
Angeles, California
Charlie Parker Quintet
Personnel: Charlie Parker, as,
Miles Davis, tpt, Joe Albany, pno, Addison
Farmer, bs, Chuck Thompson,
dr, unknown MC
10. Billie's
Bounce
3:45
11. Ornithology
5:04
12. All the Things You
Are
5:13
13. Blue 'n'
Boogie
5:15
14. Anthropology into announcement 2:51
Probably March or April 1946
AFRS "Jubilee," NBC Studios, Hollywood,
California
Personnel: Charlie Parker,
Benny Carter and Willie Smith, as, Nat "King" Cole, pno,
Oscar Moore, g, Johnny Miller, bs, Buddy
Rich, dr, Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, MC.
15. Intro discussion into Cherokee into announcement
4:22
November 22, 1948
Jazz At the Philharmonic, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Personnel: Charlie Parker, as,
Al Haig, pno, Tommy Potter, bs, J.C. Heard, dr
16.
Ornithology
4:11
17. Dizzy Atmosphere 5:39
18. Out of Nowhere
3:35
Disc Two
July 14, 1952
Party at Jirayr Zorthian's Ranch, top of Fair Oaks Avenue,
Altadena, California
Personnel: Charlie Parker and
Frank Morgan, as, Don Wilkerson, ts, Amos
Trice, pno, David Bailey, bs,
Larance Marable, dr
1. Scrapple from the Apple (incomplete) [Soloists: CP, DW,
FM, CP, DW. FM,
AT]
5:44
2. Au Privave/Dance of the Infidels [Soloists: CP, DW, FM,
AT; CP, DW and FM exchange fours] 13:11
3. Night in Tunisia
[Soloists: CP, DW, FM, AT] 7:33
4. How High the Moon/Ornithology [Soloists: CP, DW, FM, AT,
CP, DW] 7:31
5. Party Chatter into Embraceable You [Soloist:
CP] 3:45
6. Hot House [Soloists: CP, DW, FM, CP exchanges with
LM] 7:07
7. Cool Blues [Soloists: CP, FM, DW, CP and FM exchange
choruses, DW, FM] 12:15
8. March
Noodling/Dixie
4:12
Probably July 28, 1952 at
Zorthian's Ranch
Personnel: Same as above, but add Chet
Baker, tpt
9. Scrapple from the Apple [Soloists: FM, DW, CP, CB, AT,
DB,
CP exchanges with LM] 13:14
Probably July 1952, Unknown
Location, Los Angeles,
California
Personnel: Probably same as above, but omit Don Wilkerson and Chet
Baker
10. Au Privave (incomplete) [Soloists: CP, FM]
4:28
LP
LP 1
Side A
December 17, 1945
1. Intro over I Waited for You into How High the Moon
(incomplete) 4:11
2. Intro dialogue with Gibson into Handsome Harry the Hipster
(incomplete) (no
Parker)
4:15
3. Cement Mixer (fragment) into Intro into Blues
(fragment) 1:20
4. Dizzy Atmosphere (fragment) (no Parker
improvisation)
1:04
5. FiftySecond Street Theme into closing
announcement
1:53
Possibly December 10, 17, or 29,
1945
AFRS "Jubilee," NBC Studios, Hollywood,
California
Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra Featuring Charlie Parker
6. Groovin' High into announcement
5:47
Side B
1. Intro dialogue with Gillespie into Shaw 'Nuff into
announcement 4:51
2. Intro dialogue with Gillespie into Dizzy Atmosphere into
announcement
4:36
3. Intro dialogue between Vallee and Gibson into Salt
Peanuts 3:40
LP 2
Side A
1. Billie's
Bounce
3:45
2. Ornithology 5:04
3. All the Things You
Are
5:13
4. Blue 'n'
Boogie
5:15
Side B
1. Anthropology into announcement
2:51
Probably March or April 1946
AFRS "Jubilee," NBC Studios, Hollywood, California
2. Intro discussion into Cherokee into
announcement 4:22
November 22, 1948
Jazz At the Philharmonic, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
3. Ornithology 4:11
4. Dizzy Atmosphere 5:39
5. Out of
Nowhere 3:35
LP 3
Side A
July 14, 1952
Party at Jirayr Zorthian's Ranch, top of Fair Oaks Avenue,
Altadena, California
1. Scrapple from the Apple (incomplete) [Soloists: CP, DW,
FM, AT; CP, DW and FM exchange fours]
5:44
2. Au Privave/Dance of the Infidels [Soloists: CP, DW, FM,
AT; CP, DW and FM exchange fours] 13:11
Side B
1. Night in Tunisia
[Soloists: CP, DW, FM, AT] 7:33
2. How High the Moon/Ornithology [Soloists: CP, DW, FM, AT,
CP, DW] 7:31
3. Party Chatter into Embraceable You [Soloist: CP]
3:45
LP 4
Side A
1. Hot House [Soloists: CP, DW, FM, CP exchanges with
LM] 7:07
2. Cool Blues [Soloists: CP, FM, DW, CP and FM exchange
choruses, DW, FM] 12:15
Side B
1. March
Noodling/Dixie
4:12
Probably July 28, 1952 at
Zorthian's Ranch
2. Scrapple from the Apple [Soloists: FM, DW, CP, CB, AT,
DB,
CP exchanges with LM] 13:14
Probably July 1952, Unknown Location,
Los Angeles, California
3. Au Privave (incomplete) [Soloists: CP,
FM] 4:28
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SOURCE Verve/UMe