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Chords & Notes
Charlie Parker: Bird at the High-Hat
Blue Note/Virgin; Rs 295 (CD)
MODERN JAZZ, by common consent of the experts, began in the early '40s with the be-bop revolution. And again by common consent, the flag-bearers of this revolution were Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker (1920-1955).
Alas! Parker died just when LP sound recording had begun, so records on which he extends himself to more than the three minutes or so per track of the 78 rpm format are few. The tracks on Bird at the High-Hat, recorded in December 1953 and January 1954 from live broadcasts of performances at a famous Boston jazz club, happily take advantage of the extended play that LP allowed, but for some strange reason they don't similarly benefit from the improvements in audio fidelity that also came with the LP format.
Parker's music, however, is first-rate. Parker has three versions of his theme tune, "Ornithology" and two of another favourite, "My Little Suede Shoes", interspersed by other be-bop anthems such as "Groovin' High" and "Now's the Time". The multi-version tracks particularly show off Parker's greatness with their completely different alto sax solos.
For support, he has Jimmy Woode on bass, Rollins Griffith on piano, Marquis Foster on drums, and Herbie Williams on trumpet. This is classic be-bop, each track marked by a series of solos after the theme — generally Parker on alto saxophone followed by Williams and Griffith, sometimes Woode and occasionally Foster squeezed in before the theme is reprised. All these hitherto unknown musicians with Parker seem inspired by his lead and match his improvisations with their own.
Jackie McLean: Capuchin Swing
Blue Note/Virgin; Rs 295 (CD)
JACKIE MCLEAN was one of the leading alto saxophonists of the hard bop era, played under several great bandleaders of the time and led his own band from the late '50s. Charlie Parker was considered an important influence on his style, which combined the ability to play complicated melody lines with the powerful rhythms that hard bop became famous for, all topped off with a warm and emotional tone.
Capuchin Swing was recorded in 1960 with Blue Mitchell, another famous warm-toned musician (trumpet), Walter Bishop, Jr. (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Art Taylor (drums), all well-schooled in be-bop and hard bop. Just six tracks take up the 40-odd minutes of this album, but each of them is well developed with a series of solo improvisations by McLean, Mitchell, Bishop, and Chambers. All the tracks are fast or fastish-paced, with McLean and Mitchell setting that pace on the theme, which they usually articulate together. Chambers too is in top form, fairly booming at times on a normally very quiet instrument, occasionally showing his skill at bowing it instead of plucking. The title track, "Francisco", and "On the Lion" are the best tracks, the last displaying an effective use of stereo recording with Mitchell on the left and McLean on the right.
With Mitchell and McLean resting, the medium-paced "Don't Blame Me" gives Bishop, Chambers, and Taylor extended room to showcase their skills. Taylor especially uses the opportunity to engage in exchanges with Bishop and Chambers.
JAZZEBEL
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