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Charlie Parker session details

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March 12, 1949 (13 items; TT = 40:10)
Royal Roost Club, New York NY
WMCA-AM radio broadcast (B+)
Show chatter

Charlie Parker (as); Kenny Dorham (tpt); Eli "Lucky" Thompson (ts); Milt Jackson (vb); Al Haig (p); Tommy Potter (b); Max Roach (d); Norman Faye (tpt); Al Porcino (tpt); Charlie Walp (tpt); Mario Daone (tb); Rob Swope (tb); Frank Socolow (as); Ray Turner (ts); Al Epstein (ts); Marty Flachsenhaar (bs); Teddy Charles [Theodore Cohen] (vb); Gene Di Novi (p); Grieg Stewart "Chubby" Jackson (b); Thomas "Red" Kelly (b); Norman "Tiny" Kahn (d); Joe Harris (bgo, cga); Symphony Sid Torin (ann)

1 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) [incomplete] 0:10
2 Cheryl (C. Parker) 3:27
3 Introduction (Parker) 0:13
4 Slow Boat to China (F. Loesser) 3:37

Thompson out. Parker is alone on the opening theme; Dorham plays some muted obbligatos during the out chorus
5 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) 1:15
6 Chasin' the Bird (C. Parker) 6:21
7 Jumpin' with Symphony Sid [incomplete] (L. Young) 0:04
8 Tiny's Blues (T. Dameron) 6:08
9 Father Knickerbocker (E. Wilson) 3:09
10 Belvedere Bop [Flying the Coop] (T. Kahn) 6:00
11 You Wear Love So Well (G. Handy-J. Segal) 2:34
12 Godchild (G. Wallington) 4:28
13 Boomsie [That's Right] (S. Rogers) 2:44


1 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)
12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173
CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336

2 Cheryl
12" LP: Savoy MG 12179, SJL 1108, SJL 1173, Audiofidelity AFE 3-7
CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336

3 Introduction (Parker)
12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173
CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336

4 Slow Boat to China
12" LP: Savoy MG 12179, SJL 1108, SJL 1173, Audiofidelity AFE 3-7
CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336

5 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)
12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173
CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336

6 Chasin' the Bird
12" LP: Savoy MG 12179, SJL 1108, SJL 1173, Audiofidelity AFE 3-7
CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336

7 Jumpin' with Symphony Sid
12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173
CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443)

8 Tiny's Blues
CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76

9 Father Knickerbocker
CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76

10 Belvedere Bop
CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76

11 You Wear Love So Well
CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76

12 Godchild
CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76

13 Boomsie
CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76


The group is still a bit ragged (e.g. the closing theme of "Cheryl"), but this is the tightest of the Roost dates with Thompson and Jackson.

This is the last of the Roost broadcasts spanning the period from September 1948 until March 1949. Together they are one of the most satisfying bodies of Parker's live work. These were heady days -- in addition to the Parker Quintets, the Roost hosted the Miles Davis Nonet; various Tadd Dameron groups; small groups and a big band led by Dizzy Gillespie -- not to mention Count Basie, Billy Eckstine, Charlie Ventura, Lester Young, Anita O'Day, Chubby Jackson, Woody Herman, and many others. Symphony Sid's late-night broadcasts were turning a large audience on to the sounds of this new music -- "Ah, the music is so crazy where the lights are low and the music is a real knocked-out groove. Ninety cents admission and all you gotta do is sit back and relax from nine-thirty until four and dig the gonest sounds that come out at the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House on Broadway between 47th and 48th Street, right opposite the Strand Theatre..."

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