THE MAN THEY CALLED BIRD: (Chapter III) By 1945, Parker and Gillespie’s band were much in demand and in early 1946 they toured California, but Bird would frequently disappear when they had gigs, which made Dizzy’s on-stage life challenging. Dizzy managed the problem by taking vibraphonist Milt Jackson with them to deputize for Charlie when he went missing. As well as a six-week booking at Billy Berg’s jazz club in Hollywood, they played Jazz at the Philharmonic along with Lester Young. In true fashion, Parker even arrived late for the gig at the Philharmonic Auditorium, walking on stage during a piano solo, and when Gillespie asked “Where you been?”, Parker let his sax do the talking. Charlie ParkerWhen the booking in Los Angeles finished, Dizzy headed back east while Parker stayed in California. Ross Russell, a hip Hollywood record shop owner and former pulp fiction writer, approached Parker with an offer of a recording contract with the label he proposed to set up. The first Dial Records session was in February 1946, and despite Charlie’s heroin problems, it went well. At a session in March with a septet that included Miles Davis, Lucky Thompson and Dodo Marmarosa, Parker cut ‘Yardbird Suite’ and ‘A Night In Tunisia’; despite Bird’s drug issues, this is a pivotal moment in modern jazz. By the next session in July his supplier had been arrested, so with no heroin Parker was drinking gin by the bucket instead. Parker spent six months at Camarillo State Mental Hospital, and by February 1947 he was back in the studio sounding better than ever. He recorded ‘Relaxing At Camarillo’, ‘Stupendous’, ‘Cool Blues’ (with Erroll Garner on piano) and ‘Bird’s Nest’; these sides are arguably the cornerstones of the Parker legend. As well as sounding great, Parker was looking great, and after he finished in Los Angeles he went back to New York. BBC Documentary: Amazing!!!! youtube/watch?v=eAQg-55tZxg#t=33
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 07:41:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015