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| February 11, 1951 (6 items; TT = 34:29) |
| Pershing Hotel Ballroom, Chicago IL |
| Private recording (Tape) (C+) |
Show chatter
| Charlie Parker (as); Claude McLin (ts); George Freeman (g); Chris Anderson (p); Leroy Jackson (b); Bruz Freeman (d) |
|
| 1 |
There's a Small Hotel (R. Rodgers-L. Hart) |
10:11 |
|
| 2 |
These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) (H. Marvell-J. Strachey-H. Link) |
2:03 |
|
| 3 |
Keen and Peachy (incomplete) [Fine and Dandy] (R. Burns-S. Rogers) |
6:26 |
|
| 4 |
Hot House (T. Dameron) |
9:04 |
|
| 5 |
Swivel Hips (incomplete) [Bird, Bass, and Out] (C. McLin) |
3:35 |
|
| 6 |
Goodbye (incomplete) (G. Jenkins) |
3:10 |
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| 1 There's a Small Hotel
12" LP: Savoy MG 12152, SJL-1132
CD: Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Ember EMBCD 014, Philology Volume 35 (Revised) (W 866), Definitive DRCD 11242, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
|
2 These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
12" LP: Savoy MG 12152, SJL-1132
CD: Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Ember EMBCD 014, Philology Volume 35 (Revised) (W 866), Definitive DRCD 11242, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
|
3 Keen and Peachy (incomplete)
12" LP: Savoy MG 12152, SJL-1132
CD: Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Ember EMBCD 014, Philology Volume 35 (Revised) (W 866), Definitive DRCD 11242, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
|
4 Hot House
12" LP: Savoy MG 12152, SJL-1132
CD: Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Ember EMBCD 014, Philology Volume 35 (Revised) (W 866), Definitive DRCD 11242, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
|
5 Swivel Hips (incomplete)
12" LP: Savoy SJL-1132
CD: Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Ember EMBCD 014, Philology Volume 35 (Revised) (W 866), Definitive DRCD 11242
|
6 Goodbye (incomplete)
12" LP: Savoy SJL-1132
CD: Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Ember EMBCD 014, Philology Volume 35 (Revised) (W 866), Definitive DRCD 11242
|
These six items have often been dated October 23, 1950, but the correct date is
February 11, 1951. Parker, booked with his Strings at Johnny Brown's Club in Pittsburgh,
had the night off and flew in to play a dance at the Pershing Ballroom. A short
note in the Chicago Defender (February 3, 1951, p. 34) says that Parker
"comes to the Windy City Sunday, Feb. 11, to play a great big dance engagement at
the Pershing Ballroom... which will include the music of three bands." Another article
in the Defender, "The Bird Flies into Pershing Ballroom Sunday Nite" (February
10, 1951, p. 32), confirms the engagement and adds that "Parker's mood music, which
can go from the easy flowing style to some gone bounce, is rated tops by jazz critics."
The personnel is harder to nail down. The Freeman brothers group seems to have been
the house band at the Pershing; and the presence of Claude McLin -- a Chicago headliner
-- makes sense if McLin's group was one of the three groups booked for this "great
big dance engagement." Apparently guitarist George Freeman, who is definitely present
on these tunes, recalls this date but insists that it took place not at the Pershing
Ballroom, but at a ballroom on the west side of Chicago. The gig he recalls did not
feature three groups, only one. And he also remembers that Vernel Fournier, not his
brother Bruz, was the drummer. I'm not sure what to make of these conflicting pieces
of information. But I am grateful to Jeffrey Shaw for sharing his interviews with
George Freeman and for helpful discussion of these Pershing Ballroom sessions.
These items were originally issued by Savoy on LP (SJL 1132), and reissued in 1960
(MG-12152) with some clumsy edits: on "There's a Small Hotel" the tenor solo is
repeated; on "These Foolish Things," Parker's solo is repeated; on "Keen and Peachy,"
the closing chorus is spliced in at the beginning. Other solos appear to have been
edited out. On Definitive these titles appear without the edits.
Parker plays relatively little on these numbers, and sounds quite uninspired.
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