Artist.......: Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker
Album........: Town Hall, New York City, (June 22, 1945)
Label........: Uptown
Genre........: Jazz
Catnr........: 2751
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: Sep-12-2006
str.date.....: Jun-21-2005
quality......: VBR/44.1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: n/a
track title time
01. Intro 01:20
02. Bebop 07:12
03. A Night In Tunisia 07:34
04. Groovin' High 07:17
05. Salt Peanuts 07:52
06. Hot House 07:14
07. Fifty Second Street Theme 02:15
Runtime 40:44 min
Size 37,4 MB
Release Notes:
Even with nearly a centuryÆs worth of recordings at
their fingertips --a sum far beyond what any one
person could reasonably consume in a lifetime--
jazz fans still pine for lost finds. The last
couple years have been particularly kind in this
regard with not one, but two, epochal archival
discoveries: a live recording of Trane with Monk
that purportedly eclipses its fidelity-impaired
precursor on Blue Note in virtually every way, and
this airshot from a June 22, 1945 Town Hall gig by
the Dizzy Gillespie-Charlie Parker Quintet. I
havenÆt yet heard the former trove and therefore
canÆt comment on its associative claims. But Town
Hall more than earns all the brouhaha surrounding
its emergence and release.
The back-story reads right out of an R. Crumb or
Harvey Pekar comic. Record collector receives a
mysterious call relating the availability of
several Charlie Parker acetates for purchase. His
encyclopedic knowledge of BirdÆs discography
pinpoints the bounty as an unreleased concert and
he quickly acquires transfers of the platters.
Professionally recorded and without gaps or major
blemishes, the music completely surpasses his
expectations. ItÆs the sort of divine providence
that instantly becomes the province of jazz lore.
The sad news for collectors is that the concertÆs
second half featuring Errol GarnerÆs band remains
unreleased thanks to the unwillingness of the
pianistÆs estate to greenlight its circulation. But
any grousing is a case of sour grapes when the
available wine is this fine.
The gig is dominated by DizzyÆs tunes and times at
an economical LP length of forty or so minutes.
Unfortunately it also has the boorish Symphony Sid
as loquacious emcee. Al Haig occupies the piano
bench with Curley Russell handling bass and Max
Roach at the drum kit. The band sounds marvelous,
though there is a liminal stretch where the sound
engineer fiddles a bit with the balance in the
opening bars of ôBebopö to bring the horns in line
with the rhythm section. Don ByasÆ tenor joins the
frontline on this number, initially as a stopgap
for the perpetually tardy Parker. ItÆs only a
tantalizing taste and he drops out before the
return to the theme.
ParkerÆs alto exercises the agility of a
jackrabbit, bounding through the changes of ôA
Night in Tunisia,ö but itÆs GillepsieÆs muted
cadenza that elicits the rousing ovation. Even
RussellÆs strings are cleanly audible, a
circumstance not present on the various
contemporary recordings from the left coast issued
on labels like Spotlite and Savoy. Haig is still a
bit wet behind the ears when it comes to the
harmonic rigors of bop, but he collects plenty of
solo room and ramps things up on a riotous
rendering of ôSalt Peanuts.ö That tune also
features some ferocious Roach and arguably ParkerÆs
most incandescent improvisations of the night. Sid
Catlett sits in on the two closing tracks and his
flamboyant stick play sustains the heat on a
burning version of ôHot House.ö The band signs the
set off with MonkÆs ôFifty Second Street Theme,ö
rendered in a terse 2:14.
In usual Uptown fashion the packaging and
documentation is exemplary with essays by Ira
Gitler and Bob Sunenblick (the lucky finder) as
well as ancillary photos and clippings depicting
Bird, Diz and sidemen (all looking svelte in their
suits with youthful kissers) ready to unwittingly
turn the jazz world on its collective ear. Any fan
of bebop wonÆt need the push to pull the trigger,
but casual listeners will find this set well worth
the necessary green as well. With two gold strikes
and counting, the next big bonanza canÆt be that
far behind.