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Charlie Parker session details

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January 3, 1949 (5 items; TT = 17:02)
RCA Studios, New York NY
Commercial for RCA Victor

Charlie Parker (as); J.B. "Dizzy" Gillespie (tpt); Miles Davis (tpt); Theodore "Fats" Navarro (tpt); J.J. Johnson (tb); Kai Winding (tb); Buddy De Franco (cl); Charlie Ventura (ts); Ernie Caceres (bs); Billy Bauer (g); Lennie Tristano (p); Eddie Safranski (b); Shelly Manne (d)

1 Overtime (short take) (P. Rugolo) 3:05
2 Overtime (long take) (P. Rugolo) 4:30
3 Victory Ball (short take) (L. Tristano) 2:39
4 Victory Ball (short take (alt)) (L. Tristano) 2:38

Davis out
5 Victory Ball (long take) (L. Tristano) 4:10

Davis out


1 Overtime (short take)
78 rpm: RCA/Victor 20-3361
10" LP: RCA/Victor LPT-3046
12" LP: RCA/Camden CAL-426
CD: RCA/Bluebird 66528, RCA/Bluebird 76362, Philology Volume 40 (W 871), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1335

2 Overtime (long take)
12" LP: RCA/Camden CAL-426
CD: CD

3 Victory Ball (short take)
78 rpm: RCA/Victor 20-3361
10" LP: RCA/Victor LPT-3046
12" LP: RCA/Camden CAL-426, RCA/Camden CAL-339
CD: RCA/Bluebird 66528, RCA/Bluebird 76362, Philology Volume 40 (W 871), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1335

4 Victory Ball (short take (alt))
CD: Philology Volume 14 (W 844), Volume 40 (W 871), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1335

5 Victory Ball (long take)
12" LP: RCA/Camden CAL-426
CD: RCA/Bluebird 66528, RCA/Bluebird 76362, Definitive Records DRCD 11159, Philology Volume 40 (W 871), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1335


This is a famous all-star session. "Overtime," based on "Love Me or Leave Me," was arranged by Pete Rugolo. "Victory Ball," based on "'S Wonderful," was arranged by Lennie Tristano, Billy Bauer, and Parker.

Overtime

Short take
Breaks: Parker, Gillespie, Ventura, Winding, DeFranco, and Safranski
Solos: Parker (16); Winding (16); DeFranco (16); Tristano (16); Safranski/ensemble (8); Manne/ensemble (8); Ventura (16); Bauer (16); Gillespie (16)

Long take
Breaks: Parker, Gillespie, Ventura, Winding, DeFranco, and Safranski
Solos: Parker (32); Winding (16); Johnson (16); DeFranco (16); Tristano/Bauer (16); Safranski/ensemble (8); Manne/ensemble (8); Tristano/Bauer (16); Ventura (32)
Trumpet chases (16 four-bar passages): Davis, Navarro, Gillespie alternating. Davis tries some Gillespie-like flourishes, but Gillespie and Navarro are the ones who shine.

Victory Ball

Short take
Solos: Parker (16); DeFranco (16); Winding (16); Ventura (16); Tristano (16); Gillespie (16)

Short take (alternate version)
Solos: Parker (16); DeFranco (16); Winding (16); Ventura (16); Tristano (16); Gillespie (16)

Long take
Solos: Parker (32); Davis (16); DeFranco (16); Winding (16); Ventura (16); Johnson (16); Navarro (16); Tristano (32); Caceres (16); Gillespie (16)

Tommaso Urbano has done a patient and careful analysis of these tunes; see his website, The Music of Miles. Leif Bo Petersen has done a lot to clarify this session, and I am grateful to him for his help.

After leaving the Parker Quintet in mid-December, Davis joined Oscar Pettiford's All-Stars at the Clique Club on Broadway. The band included (in addition to Davis) Fats Navarro, Kai Winding, Lucky Thompson, Dexter Gordon, Milt Jackson, Bud Powell, Pettiford, and Kenny Clarke. A contemporary review in the New York Times complained that "the all-star group, so billed, under Pettiford, goes to extremes in presenting the new fetish of jazzophiles."

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