Audio CD review:
Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie - Diz 'N Bird at Carnegie Hall

Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie - Diz 'N Bird at Carnegie Hall

Band: Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie Title: Diz 'N Bird at Carnegie Hall Rating: Release Date: 1997-06-17 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: A Night in Tunisia - Charlie Parker, Gillespie, Dizzy 2: Dizzy Atmosphere - Charlie Parker, Gillespie, Dizzy 3: Groovin' High - Charlie Parker, Gillespie, Dizzy 4: Confirmation - Charlie Parker, Harris, Benny 5: Koko - Charlie Parker, Parker, Charlie 6: Cool Breeze - Charlie Parker, Dameron, Tadd 7: Relaxin' at Camarillo - Charlie Parker, Parker, Charlie 8: One Bass Hit - Charlie Parker, Fuller, Gil 9: The Nearness of You - Charlie Parker, Carmichael, Hoagy 10: Salt Peanuts - Charlie Parker, Clarke, Kenny 11: Cubana Be, Cubana Bop - Charlie Parker, Gillespie, Dizzy 12: Hot House - Charlie Parker, Dameron, Tadd 13: Toccata for Trumpet - Charlie Parker, Lewis, John [01] 14: Oop-Pop-A-Da - Charlie Parker, Gillespie, Dizzy 15: Things to Come - Charlie Parker, Fuller, Gil

Taste of Bird, plenty of Big Band The other is "Jazz At Massey Hall" from 1953. Before the 1945 Town Hall recordings that surfaced in 2005, this was the earliest of the two Dizzy Gillespie/Charlie Parker live recordings. Recorded in 1947, this CD starts with five songs by a quintet with Gillespie and Parker. Playing sure-fire Gillespie and Parker compositions, the first five songs are very good. They are only 4-5 minutes long, so there isn't the longer solos of the Town Hall concert. Gillespie and Parker both sound really good. The sound quality is okay for its time -- the rhythm section sounds distant but front-line horns come right through. After "Koko", it switches to Dizzy's big band. This makes up 48 minutes of the 73 minute CD. The sound quality suffers a bit with the larger ensemble. The bass is louder, but the trumpet section tends to push everyone else to the back. For example, Milt Jackson is playing vibes, but he's inaudible. The songs are mostly Gillespie and Tadd Dameron classics. I prefer the smaller-group versions of these songs, but they're still good, and big band fans will undoubtedly appreciate them more. "Oop-Pop-A-Da" is the sole song with vocals. It's sung for humor and entertainment, as I think all Dizzy's vocals were. The band closes things out with a hectic version of "Things To Come". If someone could only have one Diz 'n Bird disc, I'd go with the 1945 Town Hall CD. If someone wants more, this is a good one to pick up. . Diz 'n Bird dazzle This CD fit in perfectly and was enjoyed by my students. I purchased this CD to play as part of a Black History unit on musical styles through the ages. Any time I can introduce something from the past into a lesson so the students can see how it links to the present I am happy. This definitely happened here. One of The Best Live Jazz Albums Bird and Diz are only together for the first five tunes, but don't let that deter you. I would rate this as one of the top 5 live jazz albums of all time. They really tear it up on every song and Bird's amazing solo on "Confirmation" is probably the highlight. The remainder of the tracks is Dizzy Gillespie with his big band and while those songs aren't as exciting as the ones he does with Charlie Parker, they are still excellent. So if you're a jazz fan and you don't own this, get it. It belongs in every jazz fan's collection. 2 Concerts For The Price Of One...But Not Complete The CD is somewhat misstated to gain notoriety but who cares with great music. The 1st 5 tracks are the reunion of Diz n Bird at Carnegie Hall (1947)and the remainder the big band set. . The liner notes clearly mentions that Ella Fitzgerald was singing on 6 selections omitted here as well as other selections either unrecorded properly or intentionally omitted. . Blistering, Inspiring, Untouchable: Best Bird/Diz Concert The audio quality isn't markedly inferior to either the Town Hall or Massey Hall dates, and the playing by Bird and Diz is not only worlds apart from the 1945 encounter but in some instances is superior to the later, Massey Hall performance. Don't let the recent discovery and hype surrounding the 1945 Gillespie-Parker Town Hall concert discourage you from picking up the 1947 Carnegie Hall concert. Listen carefully to Bird's four-bar break on "Night in Tunisia," which Martin Williams analyzed in "The Jazz Tradition. " Bird alters the meter and tempo ever so slightly, an aerialist who communicates the sense of being suspended in time and space, yet suddenly becoming reanimated just in time for the first beat of the chorus. It's very likely the most melodically-rhythmically complex four bars of improvised music every recorded, deserving a place right alongside Louis Armstrong's famous cadenza at the start of "West End Blues. " You won't hear anything near this level of complexity on the Town Hall session, recorded two years earlier, let alone on any non-Parker performance. (Side-by-side comparisons of Bird's break with that of numerous other "name" saxophone players at the same juncture on the same tune inevitably is a disservice to the "pretenders. " Listen, for example, to Lou Donaldson with Clifford Brown on "Art Blakey at Birdland, Vol. 1. " Embarrassingly awful jive--merely meaningless motion. ) The remainder of the recording gives ample evidence of the heat and mastery of Bird as well as Diz (their unison ensembles defy credibility even today). And even though Bird gets more playing time in the small-group setting, there's enough heard from Diz to bolster the case of any listener who wishes to maintain that he was superior to Parker as an improviser (an argument I still have with some musicians). Ignore the reviews that complain about the sound quality or the limited number of tunes featuring Bird. This contains some of the most exciting and significant Bird and Diz on record--if your ears are up to the challenge. You can see a complete list of all Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie discography, or go back to the Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie tabs