1944

Charlie Parker Chronology

Created by Leif Bo Petersen

Last updated December 15, 2024.

Date

Event

References/Further Details

January early–April early

Charlie Parker

Parker can be documented in Kansas City until late November 1943.  I have no further information of his musical activities until the spring of 1944..

He is rumored to have played with Cootie Williams and Andy Kirk before he joined Eckstine’s band.

My studies of itineraries seem to open a window for a few gigs with Kirk around Kansas City January late or February early. Concerning the Williams band, I have found no indications that Parker worked with this band in this period.

L. Feather, Inside Jazz (1977), 13: Parker worked briefly with Cootie Williams and Andy Kirk before joining the Eckstine band.

B. Eckstine: “Leading My Own Outfit.” Melody Maker, August 28, 1954, 19: Parker had been working with Andy Kirk and Noble Sissle but was in Chicago when Eckstine contacted him for joining his band.

L. B. Petersen and T. Rehak, The Music and Life of Theodore “Fats” Navarro – Infatuation (2009), 25: Here is a discussion of Parker in relation to the Kirk band. See also page 340: Kirk’s band was in California from February 10–April and returned to the Midwest in May.

Cootie Williams was touring in the Midwest from mid-January ending up in California April 12.

It has been suggested that Parker is on recordings by Jay McShann and Cootie Williams from early 1944, but these are from Californian AFRS Jubilee shows. Parker was not present there.

For details see:

https://www.plosin.com/milesahead/BirdSessions.aspx?s=440000

https://www.plosin.com/milesahead/BirdSessions.aspx?s=440800

March 11

Charlie Parker

Payment of lacking dues to Local 627.

Local 627 (Kansas City, M0) member record for Charlie Parker

(https://charlieparkerskc.org/map/18th-vine/local-627mutual-musicians-foundation).

March 17

Noble Sissle and His Orchestra

Maybe including Charlie Parker.

Frog Hop, St. Joseph, MO.

Ad in St. Joseph News-Press, March 16, 1944, 19.

March 18

Charlie Parker

Reinstated in Local 627.

Local 627 (Kansas City, M0) member record for Charlie Parker

(https://charlieparkerskc.org/map/18th-vine/local-627mutual-musicians-foundation): ”Restored to roll by board of Directors”.

“Local Reports: Local no. 627, Kansas city, MO,” International Musician, July  1944, 18: May-report, referring events in March and April.

March 19

Noble Sissle and His Orchestra

Probably including Charlie Parker.

Pla-Mor, Kansas City, MO.

Ad in Kansas City Star, March 19, 1944, 8 D.

“Local Reports: Local no. 627, Kansas city, MO,” International Musician, July  1944, 18: May-report, referring events in March and April.

Travelling  members: Noble Sissle, John Jenkins,  (802); Booker Samuels, Isiah Donnelly, Charles Parker (627); Howard Diggs, Emmanuel Sims, Leon Beck (6); William France, Edna Williams, Calvin Strickland (767); Major Kennedy (495); Fernando Venecia, Russell Moore (47).

March 31

Jesse Miller Band

Jesse Miller (tp); Goon Gardner, A. K. Salim (as); Argonne Thornton (a.k.a. Sadik Hakim) (p); Ike Day (d).

Joe’s Deluxe Club, Chicago, IL.

March 31–?

Charlie Parker shows up at a Jesse Miller engagement here.

Ad in Chicago Defender, March 18, 1944, 11: Jesse Miller opens at Joe’s DeLuxe Club on March 31.

Ad in Chicago Defender, April 1, 1944, 11: Jesse Miller at Joe’s DeLuxe Club.

Sadik Hakim (a.k.a. Argonne Thornton): “Reflections of an Era – My Experiences with Bird and Prez” Jazz Journal, August 1996, 18: “One night we were playing Stompin’ at the Savoy for the chorus girls when, out of the blue we heard this horn from the front of the club playing over the top of the band. I looked up and saw Charlie Parker... I started hanging out with Bird in Chicago…”

April early

Charlie Parker

Moves to Chicago.

He probably gets a transfer to the Chicago union.

“Local Reports: Local no. 627, Kansas city, MO,” International Musician, July  1944, 18: May-report, referring events in March and April.

Transfers issued: Charlie Parker.

April early

Teddy Powell and His Orchestra

Hot Lips Page and His Orchestra

Including Hot Lips Page (tp), Charlie Parker (as); Sadik Hakim (a.k.a. Argonne Thornton) (p).

Panther Room, College Inn, Sherman Hotel, Chicago, IL.

March 23–April 20.

Parker and Hakim may not have participated in the full engagement.

“New Cafe and 8 New Revues for Night Club Patrons,” Chicago Tribune, March 19, 1944, Magazine, 5: Teddy Powell opening at the Panther Room, Sherman Hotel, March 24 for four weeks.

“Chicago Band Briefs,” Down Beat, March 15, 1944, 4: Teddy Powell opening March 23 for 4 weeks and one day.

“Chicago Band Briefs,” Down Beat, April 15, 1944, 4: Teddy Powell closing April 20.

Ad in Chicago Tribune, March 25, 1944, 16.

Sadik Hakim (Argonne Thornton): “Reflections of an Era -My Experiences with Bird and Prez” Jazz Journal, August 1996, 18: “I did work a gig with Bird in Chicago. For a while we played at the Sherman Hotel with Hot Lips Page opposite Boyd Raeburn’s Big Band.”

Hakim may have remembered incorrectly about Raeburn.

April?

Jam Session

Charlie Parker, Art Tatum.

Chicago, IL.

Sadik Hakim (Argonne Thornton): “Reflections of an Era – My Experiences with Bird and Prez,” Jazz Journal, August 1996, 19: “I remember hearing Art Tatum with Bird in Chicago. After the gig in the Loop, Tatum would come down to a club on the South Side, drinking beer after beer and playing for five or six hours.”

I have not been able to verify Tatum in Chicago in this period.

April ?

Billy Eckstine Orchestra

Eckstine sends telegram to Charlie Parker inviting him to participate in the band he was in the process of creating.

B. Eckstine: “Leading My Own Outfit,” Melody Maker, August 28, 1954, 19.

April?

Carroll Dickerson’s Orchestra

Gail Brockman replaced by Paul King, Calvin Ladnier, Raymond Orr (tp); George Hunt, J. Taylor replaced by Jerry Valentine and Milburn Newman (tb); Nat James replaced by Johnny Houser, Charlie Parker (as); Tom Archia, Eddie Johnson (ts); Marl Young (p, arr); Clarence Hog Mason (b); Hillard Brown (d); Carroll Dickerson (dir).

Rhumboogie, Chicago, IL.

November 20, 1943—June 1944.

Parker probably joined sometime in April. He seems to have been fired before June 1.

Sadik Hakim (Argonne Thornton): “Reflections of an era – My Experiences with Bird and Prez” Jazz Journal, August 1996, 18: Parker got a job at the Rhumboogie.

 Ad in Chicago Defender, November 24, 1943, 12: Dickerson at the Rhumboogie.

Ad in Chicago Defender, May 27, 1944, 10: Dickerson at the Rhumboogie.

C. Walton: “New York And the Music Revolution: Raymond Orr, trumpet.” Bronzeville Conversations.

http://www.jazzinchicago.org/

Raymond Orr states that Parker was not in the band very long. “He had hoboed to Chicago, and someone brought him to a Rhumboogie rehearsal.... Johnny Houser let him use his alto... (Hillard Brown played bass and Marl Young piano.

C. Walton: “Marl Young.”

Carroll Dickerson led the Rhumboogie band from November 20, 1943, until June 1, 1944, where Marl Young took over. At a Local 208 meeting in January 1944 concerning conflicts of leadership the band members were mentioned: Gail Brockman, Calvin Ladnier, Raymond Orr (tp); George Hunt, J. Taylor (tb); Nat Jones (as); Tom Archia, Eddie Johnson (ts); Marl Young (p & arr); Clarence “Hog” Mason (b), Hillard Brown (d), Carroll Dickerson (dir).

At a Local 208 meeting on June 1, 1944, concerning conflicts of leadership the band members were mentioned: Paul King, Calvin Ladnier, Raymond Orr (tp): Jerry Valentine, Milburn Newman (tb); Johnny Houser (as); Tom Archia, Eddie Johnson (ts); Marl Young (p & arr); Clarence “Hog” Mason (b); Hillard Brown (d); Carroll Dickerson (dir). A second alto was not present at the meeting. Marl Young’s reminiscences to have Johnny Houser on lead alto instead of Nat Jones by the time Parker was in the band.

http://myweb.clemson.edu/~campber/rhumboogie.html

Marl Young immediately fired Charlie Parker and Tom Archia when he became a leader of the band.

May mid

Billy Eckstine Orchestra

Billy Eckstine goes to Chicago in order to recruit band members. He contacts Jerry Valentine, Gail Brockman, Tommy Crump, and Shorty McConnell, and brings Parker with him to New York.

B. Eckstine: “Leading My Own Outfit,” Melody Maker, August 28, 1954. 19.

Eckstine’s engagement at the Onyx  ended May 10.

May mid

Red Saunders Orchestra

Club De Lisa, Chicago, IL.

Charlie Parker and Billy Eckstine are present at an after-hour show.

Sadik Hakim (Argonne Thornton): “Reflections of an Era – My Experiences with Bird and Prez,” Jazz Journal, August 1996, 18-19:

“At this time there was a great club on the South side, Club De Lisa. The leader of their 12-piece band was a great show drummer, Red Saunders ...On Saturday night and Sunday morning, everyone would go to the De Lisa… Bird would sit in with Red Saunders’s Band, which included altoist Nat Jones… Also playing was a great tenor player from Texas, Tom Archia. Billy Eckstine was at the show; this was before he formed his first band.”

May mid

Billy Eckstine Orchestra

Noble Sissle Orchestra

There are two very contradicting accounts of Parker’s entering in the Eckstine band.

The simplest story is Billy Eckstine’s: He tells that he went to Chicago in the spring of 1944 and brought Charlie Parker and other band members with him back to New York. Three weeks of rehearsals started in May, and Parker was a member when the band started out in early June.

This version can be supplemented with newspaper evidence that Parker was present in New York in June (see June 5) and also the testimonies of Ram Ramirez, Buddy Anderson, and Teddy Edwards.

An account from Noble Sissle contradicts this version: Sissle tells that Parker joined his band in Chicago and traveled with it shortly, ending up at St. Louis, MO, where Parker joined the Eckstine band.

It is not easy to reconcile these two accounts, but Parker may have gone to New York May mid and participated in the rehearsals and the opening gigs of the band. He may have left quickly  because he did not want to participate in the initial tour into the South, and he may have returned to Chicago, because he did not have a New York AFM local membership allowing him to work there, or because Noble had offered him a job.

B. Eckstine: “Leading My Own Outfit,” Melody Maker, August 28, 1954, 19.

P. Schaap (Bird Flight, WKCR): with Ram Ramirez as source, Schaap claims that Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie auditioned for a subbing job in the John Kirby band at the Aquarium. Gillespie got the gig but not Parker. You can hear Gillespie in the band on broadcasts from May 19 and 24.

“Duke Ellington and Band Guests of Honor at Downbeat Club”, New York Age, June 10, 1944, 11: Mentions Parker participating as member of Eckstine’s new band,

F. Driggs, “The Story of Buddy Anderson,” Jazz Journal, February 1962, 12: Buddy Anderson tells that Parker came to his home in New York and urged him to join the band for the opening engagement.

Teddy Edwards  Interviewed by Patricia Willard Institute of Jazz Studies Jazz Oral History Project (July 1980), 89–91.

https://ijsresearch.libraries.rutgers.edu/jazz-oral-history-project:

Edwards tells that he heard the band here on the fourth day of the band’s existence. He mentions Charlie Parker in the band (see August 21).

Noble Sissle in R. Reisner, Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker (1962), 212-13: Sissle needed an alto player in Chicago and hired Charlie Parker. “Charlie didn’t stay with us long, maybe three or four weeks… When we hit St. Louis, Billy Eckstine’s new band, which had all the young bebop musicians, was playing in town, and Charlie left me to join him.” Sissle places this late 1943, clearly a mistake.

Sissle may have returned to the Chicago after Canadian gigs. Parker could have joined Sissle in this period, going South with him and ending up at the Plantation in St. Louis just prior to the Eckstine engagement there.

May mid

Billy Eckstine Orchestra

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Buddy Anderson?, Shorty McConnell (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Bennie Green replaced by George Morrison, Howard Scott (tb); Charlie Parker?, Robert Junior Williams (as); Thomas Crump, Lucky Thompson (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b);  unidentified (d); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).Nola’s Studios, New York, NY.

Rehearsals.

B. Eckstine: “Leading My Own Outfit,” Melody Maker, August 28, 1954. 19: 3 weeks of rehearsals.  Gives personnel. States that Crump left before the official start.

R. Russell, Bird Lives (1988). 157–58: Rehearsal starts at Nola’s first week of May. The date is probably pure conjecture.

June 5

Celebrity Party for Duke Ellington

Coleman Hawkins (host).

Eckstine, Parker, and Gillespie are mentioned participating.

Downbeat Club, New York, NY.

Monte Kay, Peter Kameron (prod).

“Duke Ellington and Band Guests of Honor at Downbeat Club”, New York Age, June 10, 1944, 11.

“Hawkins ‘Host to the Duke’”, Music Dial, July 1947, 17:

June 9

Billy Eckstine and His Sensational New Orchestra

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Buddy Anderson, Shorty McConnell (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); George Morrison, Howard Scott (tb); Charlie Parker?, Robert Junior Williams (as); Thomas Crump, Lucky Thompson (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Billy Eckstine and others (d); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Odd Fellows Building, Wilmington, DE.

June 9, 1944. 10 p.m.–2 a.m.

Sponsored by Silver Leaf Club.

Ad in Morning News (Wilmington, DE), June 9, 1944, 28.

“Sands Ahead of Eckstine Ork,” Billboard, June 10, 1944, 20: Frank Sands Road manager. Tour opens June 9.

B. Eckstine, “Leading My Own Outfit.” Melody Maker, August 28, 1954, 19: Gives personnel. Dizzy Gillespie missed the first date. He took a wrong train from Philadelphia, fell to sleep, and woke up in Washington.

“The Music Box,” Music Dial, July 1947, 17: George Jenkins, presently with Snookum Russell, is planned to join on drums later on.

R. Russell, Bird Lives (1988), 158: Benny Green was drafted shortly after the start.

June 11

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine) and His New 16-Piece Orchestra

Turner’s Arena, Washington, DC.

9 pm–2 am

Tuxedo Sports inc. (prod).

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

Ad in Washington Afro-American, June 10, 1944, 14.

June 12

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine) and His Orchestra

Nat Towles and His Orchestra

Cobb Foxhall Warehouse, Rocky Mount, NC.

27^th Annual Colored June German (Dance).

Sponsored by local colored men of the Rhythm Club.

Plenty of seats for white and colored spectators.

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

Ad in Evening Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), June 12, 1944, 8.

June mid?

Noble Sissle and His International Orchestra

Came through Chicago, where Charlie Parker was hired.

Noble Sissle in R. Reisner, Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker (1962), 212-13.

June 13

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine) and His 18 De Luxe All Star Orchestra

Big 4 Warehouse, Durham, NC.

June 13. 8 p.m.–1 a.m.

Reserved space for white spectators to dance.

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

Ad in Durham Morning Herald, June 11, 1944, section II, 6.

June 15

Noble Sissle and His International Orchestra

Probably including Parker.

Cornbread & Honey Chile

Manhattan Rhythm Girls

And other All-Star Acts

Club Plantation, St. Louis, MO.

June 15–July 6, 1944.

Charlie Parker may have left before July 6 (see July 4).

“In Short: St. Louis,” Billboard, June 24, 1944, 27: Noble Sissle has a 3 week stand at the Plantation, St. Louis.

Ad in St. Louis Star and Post, June 15, 1944, 10

Ad in St. Louis Star and Post, July 6, 1944, 10: Billy Eckstine coming Friday  7.

June 15

Billy Eckstine and His Sensational New Orchestra

New Sunset Casino, Atlanta, GA.

8:30 p.m.–12:30 a.m.

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

Ad in Atlanta Daily World, June 11, 1944, 5.

“Billy Eckstine at Sunset Tonight,” Atlanta Daily World, June 15, 1944, 3.

June 21

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Buddy Anderson, Shorty McConnell (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); George Morrison, Howard Scott (tb); Charlie Parker?, Robert Junior Williams (as); Thomas Crump, Lucky Thompson (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Joe ? (d); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

June 23, 1943.

Lakeland, FL.

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

“Advance Bookings,” Billboard, June 17, 1944, 16.

Teddy Edwards Interviewed by Patricia Willard Institute of Jazz Studies Jazz Oral History Project (July 1980), 89–91.

https://ijsresearch.libraries.rutgers.edu/jazz-oral-history-project:

Edwards tells that he heard the band here on the fourth day of the band’s existence. He mentions Dizzy Gillespie, Gail Brockman, Little Benny Harris. Charlie Parker, Junior Williams, Lucky Thompson, John Malachi, Tommy Potter, Art Blakey, and Sarah Vaughan in the band.

“Teddy Edwards Interview” Cadence, April 1994, 11: Here Edwards tells that it was the Eckstine’s band’s second gig. He also mentions Parker and Blakey here. He states that Eckstine’s band borrowed a drum set from his band for this engagement.

As we can see it was not so early in the band’s history as stated. Blakey cannot be true. He joined later on.

I think Edwards mixes recollections of this and a later occasion, where he heard the band (see August early).

June 22

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

“Advance Bookings,” Billboard, June 17, 1944, 16.

June 23

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Tampa, FL.

Joe ? (d) joins the band

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

“Advance Bookings,” Billboard, June 17, 1944, 16.

B. Eckstine: “Leading My Own Outfit.” Melody Maker, August 28, 1954, 19: Picked up a drummer in Tampa called Joe. He died later on in New Orleans.



June 25

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine) and His Orchestra

Labor Union Hall, Crescent City, PA.

Elite Zenith Club (prod).

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

“Comes to Crescent City,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 24, 1944, 15.

June 30

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine) and His Orchestra

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Shorty McConnell, Buddy Anderson replaced by Miles Davis (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Howard Scott, George Morrison (tb); Charlie Parker, Robert "Junior" Williams (as); Charlie Rouse, Lucky Thompson (ts); Leo Parker (bar); John Malachi (p, arr); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); unidentified (d); Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Library Auditorium, San Antonio, TX.

Dance.

Don Albert – Henry Hines (prod).

Charlie Rouse joins here in place of Crump.

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

"Billy Eckstine Brings His Own Band to SS. A for Dance Engagement," San Antonio Register, June 22, 1944, 6.

Ad in San Antonio Register, June 30, 1944, 7.

Charlie Rouse in I. Gitler, Swing to Bop (1985), 130-31: Charlie Rouse joins the band in San Antonio, Texas, replacing Tommy Crump who was drafted. He mentions that Lucky Thompson was in the band, which indicates that Gene Ammons had not yet entered the band.

July 1

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine) and His Orchestra

Claudia’s Place, Dallas, TX.

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

Ad in Dallas Morning News, July 1, 1944, 3.

July 4

Billy Eckstine (Eckstine) and His Sensational Orchestra

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Shorty McConnell, Buddy Anderson (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Howard Scott, George Morrison (tb); Charlie Parker, Robert "Junior" Williams (as); Charlie Rouse, Lucky Thompson (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p, arr); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); unidentified (d); Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Municipal Auditorium, Oklahoma City, OK.

Charlie Parker may not have participated here.

Ad in,  Black Dispatch, July 1, 1944, 6.

“Billy Eckstine and Orchestra Here, July 4,” Black Dispatch, July 1, 1944, 6: Charlie Parker is mentioned alongside Eckstine, Sarah Vaughn, and Dizzy Gillespie. The mention of Parker comes from a PR-publication from the William Morris Agency, which may have foreseen the return of Charlie Parker in. St. Louis.

July 7

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine) and His All Star Recording Band

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Shorty McConnell, Buddy Anderson (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Howard Scott, George Morrison (tb); Charlie Parker, Robert “Junior” Williams (as); Charlie Rouse? replaced by Gene Ammons, Lucky Thompson (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p, arr); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey (d); Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir); Tadd Dameron (arr).

Peg-Leg Bates

Son and Sonny

Peck and Peck

Club Plantation, St. Louis, MO.

July 7-july 19.

Art Blakey joins the band at the Plantation.

Tadd Dameron joins the tour arriving with new arrangements.

The engagement was moved to Club Riviera because of racial turmoil at the Plantation.

The band was living at the Booker Washington Hotel, where the band members rehearsed and jammed in the morning.

Parker’s first wife, Rebecca, visits Parker in St. Louis. It does not work out between them, so she returns quickly.

Ad in St. Louis Star and Times, July 7, 1944, 6: Club Plantation: opening tonight.

Ad in St. Louis Star and Times, July 13, 1944, 18: Club Plantation: Eckstine. Peg Leg Bates and others.

Ad in St. Louis Star and Times, July 14, 1944, 5: Club Plantation: Son & Sonny, Peg Leg Bates, and Peck & Peck.

Ad in St. Louis Star and Times, July 18, 1944, 6: Club Plantation: Jeter-Pillar Orchestra and Peg Leg Bates.

Radio programs in the Edwardsville Intelligencer (IL.) show KWR (MBS) broadcasts with Eckstine’s Orchestra at 10:35–10:45 p.m. on July 7, 10.

B. Eckstine: “Leading My Own Outfit,” Melody Maker, August 28, 1954, 19.

Art Blakey in R. Reisner, Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker (1962), 51.

Billy Eckstine in I. Gitler, Swing to Bop (1987), 128.

Billy Eckstine in D. Gillespie and A. Fraser, To Be or Not... to Bop (1979), 191.

Addie Parker in R. Reisner, Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker (1962) 163: Parker’s first wife, Rebecca, visits Parker in St. Louis.

j. Dixon, “Charlie Parker ‘He Was My First, I Was His First, It Was All Special,’” Pitch Weekly, (Kansas City, MO.), April 10, 1996.  Here quoted from C. Haddix, Bird -The Life and Music of Charlie Parker (2013), 69—70, and 171 note 25: Rebecca tells of the visit in St. Louis.

July 20

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine)

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Shorty McConnell, Buddy Anderson replaced by Miles Davis (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Howard Scott, George Morrison (tb); Charlie Parker, Robert “Junior” Williams (as); Gene Ammons, Lucky Thompson (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p, arr); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey (d); Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir); Tadd  Dameron (arr).

Butterbeans and Susie

(comedy)

Alfredia Robinson

(song stylist)

Two Manhattan Misses

(dance)

Hortense Allen & her Riviera Chorines

Marcellus Wilson

(mc)

Club Riviera, St. Louis, MO.

July 20–August 3.

Miles Davis showed up at the Riviera opening, and he followed the band during the engagement. When Buddy Anderson got sick, he got his chair for the rest of the engagement.

Ad in St. Louis Argus, July 21, 1944, 14.

Radio programs in the Edwardsville Intelligencer (IL.) show KWR (MBS) broadcasts with Eckstine’s Orchestra at 10:35–10:45 p.m. on July 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, August 4, and 11.

G. Carner, The Miles Davis Companion (1996), 2: Elwood C. Buchanan (letter to Rolling Stone, March 2, 1983): Miles Davis meets Gillespie and Parker at the Riviera.

July 24

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine)

Club Riviera, St. Louis, MO.

Cabaret dance and Floor Show.

Hawaiians’ Club (prod).

Ad in St. Louis Argus, July 21, 1944, 14.

August 4

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Public Auditorium, Cleveland, OH.

9–1 a.m.

Paragon Club Presentation.

Ad in Cleveland Call and Post, July 29, 1944, 8A.

“Bobbing Along with Bob Williams,” Cleveland Call and Post, August 12, 1944, 2B: short review. Tadd Dameron was with the band.

August early

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, unidentified, Shorty McConnell (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Morrison, Howard Scott (tb); Charlie Parker, Robert Junior Williams (as); Charlie Rouse, Lucky Thompson (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey (d); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Evansville, IN.

Teddy Edwards  Interviewed by Patricia Willard Institute of Jazz Studies Jazz Oral History Project (July 1980), 108.

https://ijsresearch.libraries.rutgers.edu/jazz-oral-history-project:

Edwards heard the band here. He mentions Gene Ammons as new in the band.

August early

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Cincinnati, OH.

“Billy Eckstine Ork Hailed as New Sensation,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 19, 1944, 13.

“Billy Eckstine 19G in 8 Dates,” Billboard, August 26, 1944, 18: Has had 4 weeks of one-nighters.

August early

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Youngstown, OH.

“Billy Eckstine Ork Hailed as New Sensation,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 19, 1944, 13.

“Billy Eckstine 19G in 8 Dates,” Billboard, August 26, 1944, 18: Has had 4 weeks of one-nighters.

August 9

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Gipsy Village, Fontaine Ferry Park. Louisville, KY.

Ad in Courier-Journal, August 8, 1944, sec. 2, 2.

August mid

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Howard McGhee (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Marion Boonie Hazel (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Arnett Sparrow, Rudy Morrison (tb); Charlie Parker, Robert Junior Williams (as); Lucky Thompson, Gene Ammons (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey (d), Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Detroit, MI.

“Billy Eckstine 19G in 8 Dates,” Billboard, August 26, 1944, 18: Has had 4 weeks of one-nighters.

A. Zimmerman, “Howard McGhee – Number One,” Jazz Journal, October 1987, 45: Howard McGhee was playing with Georgie Auld When Auld went into the South he left his black members,

McGhee, and Shadow Wilson, behind on a leave. McGhee went back to his home in Detroit, whereupon Eckstine's band came through. Short a trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie got McGhee into the band.

August mid

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Flint, MI.

“Billy Eckstine 19G in 8 Dates,” Billboard, August 26, 1944, 18: Has had 4 weeks of one-nighters.

August mid

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Howard McGhee (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Marion Boonie Hazel (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Arnett Sparrow, Rudy Morrison (tb); Charlie Parker, Robert Junior Williams (as); Lucky Thompson, Gene Ammons (ts); Leo Parker (bar); John Malachi (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey (d), Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Aragon Ballroom, Pittsburgh, PA.

Photos by Charles Teenie Harris exist.

http://teenie.cmoa.org/CollectionSearch.aspx?itemIRN=17557&retUrl=srch%3dbilly%2bEckstine

Photo identifications in the collection notes:

Gillespie, Marion Hazel, Howard McGhee(tp); Howard Scott, Jerry Valentine, Taswell Baird (tb); Charlie Parker, Bob Junior Williams (as); Lucky Thompson, Charlie Rouse (ts); Leo Parker (bars); Linton Garner (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey; (d);Eckstine, Vaughn (voc).

Charlie Rouse and Linton Garner are mistakes for Ammons and Malachi. Howard Scott and Taswell Baird are probably mistakes for Sparrow and Morrison.

August 18

Billy Eckstine and His Band

Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Howard McGhee (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Marion Boonie Hazel (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Arnett Sparrow, Rudy Morrison (tb); Charlie Parker, John Jackson (as); Lucky Thompson, Gene Ammons (ts); Leo Parker (bar); John Malachi (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey (d), Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Regal Theatre, Chicago, IL.

August 18-24.

Ad in Chicago Tribune, August 18, 1944, 17.

“Billy Eckstine Ork Hailed as New Sensation,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 19, 1944, 13: gives the personnel.

“Eckstine Spots Strong Trumpets:” Down Beat, September 1, 1944, 13: gives the personnel.

J. Sippel, “Bands Dug by Beat: Billy Eckstine.” Down Beat, October 1, 1944, 4: “Driving force behind the reeds is Charlie Parker... After hearing this band doing six shows during the week at Regal your reviewer didn't hear repeats on many of the choruses Parker did…”

S. DeVeaux, Jazz in Transition - Coleman Hawkins and Howard McGhee, 1935-1945 Berkeley, University of California (unpublished dissertation) (1985) note 31, 215.

Phil Schaap (Bird Flight, WKCR): Parker left the Eckstine band after the Chicago gig.

August 25

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Milwaukee Hall, Milwaukee, WI.

“Riding the Airwaves,” Milwaukee Journal, August 24, 1944, Green sheet 2: mention of Gillespie and Howard McGhee.

August late

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Shorty McConnell, Gail Brockman, Marion Boonie Hazel (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Arnett Sparrow, Rudy Morrison (tb); John Jackson,  Bill Frazier (as); Lucky Thompson, Gene Ammons (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey (d), Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Unidentified venue, Detroit, MI.

“Dial in on Detroit,” Music Dial, September 1944, 27: Detroit gig. Mention of Vaughn, Gillespie, Billy Fraser (Bill Frazier), and Lucky Thompson,

The missing mention of McGhee and Parker indicates that this was after the Regal engagement. Bill Frazier was the substitute for Parker.

August 27

Billy Eckstein (Eckstine) and His New Red Hot Band

Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Howard McGhee or Shorty McConnell, Gail Brockman, Marion Boonie Hazel (tp); Jerry Valentine (tb, arr); Arnett Sparrow, Rudy Morrison (tb); John Jackson,  Bill Frazier? (as); Lucky Thompson, Gene Ammons (ts); Leo Parker (bars); John Malachi (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey (d), Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Sunset Terrace Club, Indianapolis, IN.

Ad in Indianapolis Recorder, August 26, sec 2, 5.

“Billy Eckstein’s Orchestra at Sunset Sunday Night,” Indianapolis Recorder, August 26, sec 2, 5: the personnel is given. Parker and  Howard McGhee are mentioned, probably coming from an older PR-publication from the William Morris Agency.

August late

Charlie Parker

Parker settled in New York in order to work out the quarantine in connection with a transfer to Local 802, the New York branch of AFM. This explains why we do not find him in any formal live engagements for the rest of the year.

R. Russell, Bird Lives (1988), 164-67: Russell claims that Parker arrived in New York on Labor Day and at once got a job on 52^nd Street. His account is mostly pure fiction.

 “G.I.’s Get Key to 802; Door Open to Vets,” Billboard, December 30, 1944, 9: The transfer rules of Local 802 implied 6 months’ waiting period, where a steady a job was forbidden the first 3 months and a waiting period of a further 3 months came afterwards.

September early?

Jam Session

Charlie Parker (as); Thelonious Monk (p); Stan Levey (d).

Downbeat Club, New York, NY.

F. R. Hayde, Stan Levey – Jazz Heavyweight (2016), Kindle ed. Loc. 719–745:  Stan Levey subbing with Thelonious Monk’s band at the Downbeat Club, meets Charlie Parker for the first time when Parker pops up at a Monday night am session there.  He follows Parker home to his windowless room at the Marionette Hotel in Harlem. Here Parker introduces Levey to heroin.

September early

Tiny Grimes Trio

Clyde Hart (p); Tiny Grimes (g); Jimmy Butts, later replaced by Oscar Pettiford (b).

Erroll Garner (p)

Betty Green (p, voc)

Billy Daniels (voc)

Ann Cornell (voc)

Tondelayo’s, New York, NY.

Early September–October.

Tondelayo, mc.

Charlie Parker jams with Grimes here.

“Name Acts Star at Tondelayo’s,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 23, 1944, 13.

A. Shaw, 52^nd Street: The Street of Jazz (1971), 328.”

September 15

Tiny Grimes Quintette

Charlie Parker (as); Clyde Hart (p); Tiny Grimes (g, voc), Jimmy Butts (b); Harold Doc West (d).

WOR Studios, New York, NY.

Commercial recordings or Savoy Records

https://www.plosin.com/milesahead/BirdSessions.aspx?s=440915

September 30

Charlie Parker

Suspended from Local 627 because of lacking payments of dues.

Local 627 (Kansas City, M0) member record for Charlie Parker

(https://charlieparkerskc.org/map/18th-vine/local-627mutual-musicians-foundation): ”Suspended - non-payment - dues”.

October early

Jam session

Miles Davis, who had moved to New York, in order to attend the Julliard School, meets Parker at jam session at the Heatwave.

Miles Davis in R. Reisner, Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker (1962), 79.

M. Davis and Q. Troupe, Miles (1989), 57–58.

J. Szwed, So What – The Life of Miles Davis (2002), 30-31.

October early

Charlie Parker/Miles Davis

Charlie Parker moves in at Miles Davis’ lodgings at 149^th Street.

M. Davis and Q. Troupe, Miles (1989), 58.

Miles Davis in R. Reisner, Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker (1962), 79.

J. Szwed, So What – The Life of Miles Davis (2002), 33.

October mid?

Tiny Grimes

Probably release of Savoy 526 and 532.

10” 78 rpm. records.

Recorded September 15, 1944.

Tiny Grimes Quintette

Savoy 526-A?

I’ll Always Love You Just the Same

Savoy 526-B?

Tiny’s Tempo

Savoy 532-A?

Romance Without Finance

Savoy 532-B?

Red Cross

”Diggin’ the Discs: Swing,” Down Beat, January 15, 1945, 8: Savoy 526: friendly review, not mentioning Charlie Parker.

Savoy ad in Billboard, November 4, 1944, 17: Savoy - New records: Savoy 532: Tiny Grimes Quintette. I’ll Always Love You Just the Same - Red Cross. Other recordings are mentioned, but not 526. It is stated that only regular customers will be served until production can be stepped up.

The ad seems to have wrong A side (I’ll Always Love You Just the Same)

December

Charlie Parker/Miles Davis

When Miles Davis’s wife, Irene, arrives in New York the couple moved to a bigger apartment at 147th Street, between Broadway and Riverside Drive, owned by Bob Bell, a family relation. Bell also had a cocktail lounge, a restaurant, and a soda parlor called Bell's at this address.

Their upstairs neighbors were Lucky Thompson and Freddie Webster. Later on, Parker moved into the building, sharing a room with Stan Levey.

M. Davis and Q. Troupe, Miles (1989), 58.

J. Szwed, So What - The Life of Miles Davis (2002), 38-39: Based on interview with Irene Davis.

Chan Parker (Richardson), My Life in E-Flat (1993), 22–23.

F. R. Hayde, Stan Levey - Jazz Heavyweight (2016), Kindle ed. loc. 806: Rooming with Parker in Harlem. 

December/

January early?

Charlie Parker Trio

Charlie Parker (as); Joe Albany (p); Stan Levey (d).

Spotlite Club, New York, NY.

Probably Monday night jam sessions.

December 1944/January 1945?

I. Gitler, Jazz Masters of the 40s (1884), 25: "Parker soon was leading his own trio, with Joe Albany on piano and Stan Levey on drums. Albany says that they played Monday nights at the Famous Door and that Baby Lawrence used to come in and dance with them. Levey places the club as Spotlite."

F. R. Hayde, Stan Levey - Jazz Heavyweight (2016), Kindle ed. loc. 822: Stan Levey tells that Parker's first band was a trio of Parker, Levey, and Hank Jones with Joe Albany subbing. They jammed at Minton’s and on 52^nd Street.

December 8

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday (voc); Joe Springer (p).

Oscar Pettiford Band

Benny Harris (tp); Budd Johnson (ts); Clyde Hart (p); Oscar Pettiford (b); Stan Levey (d).

Tiny Grimes Quartet

Tiny Grimes (g); Joe Springer (p); Jimmy Butts (b); Eddie Nicholson (d).

Harry the Hipster Gibson

Spotlite Club, New York, NY.

December 8–January 1945.

Charlie Parker used to jam here.

Ad in New York Amsterdam News, December 9, 1944, 9B.

“Goings on about Town: Spotlite,” New Yorker, December 16, 1944, 4: Gibson, Tiny Grimes Quartet, Billie Holiday.

“Goings on about Town: Spotlite,” New Yorker, December 23, 4: Gibson, Charlie Shavers Band, Tiny Grimes Quartet, Billie Holiday. Same December 30.

“Goings on about Town: Spotlite,” New Yorker, January 6, 1945, 4: Tiny Grimes Trio, Billie Holiday.

“Goings on about Town: Spotlite,” New Yorker, January 13, 1945, 4: Tiny Grimes Trio, Nat Jaffe Band.

Tiny Grimes in S. Dance, The World of Swing (1974, 364-65: Parker used to jam here.

December 22

Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra

17 pieces. Probably: Dizzy Gillespie (tp, arr); Gail Brockman, Shorty McConnell, Marion Boonie Hazel (tp); Jerry Valentine, (tb, arr); Joe Taswell Baird, Howard Scott, Chippie Outcalt (tb); John Jackson, Bill Frazier (as); Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon (ts): Leo Parker (bar); John Malachi (p, arr); Connie Wainwright (g); Tommy Potter (b); Art Blakey (d); Sarah Vaughan (voc); Billy Eckstine (voc, dir).

Boyd & Chapman

Sandra & Foster

Jim Wong Troupe (5)

Tip, Tap & Toe

Apollo Theatre. New York, NY.

December 22-28.

Charlie Parker surprisingly is mentioned as soloist in the Variety review. He is not mentioned in the New York Age publicity article.

Ad in New York Amsterdam News, December 24, 1944, 10.

Ad in New York Age, December 22, 1944, 10.

“Billy Eckstine and Orchestra to Appear at Apollo Theatre,” New York Age, December 22, 1944, 10.

"House Reviews: Apollo, N.Y.," Variety, December 27, 1944, 35: Mentions Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie as soloists. Sarah Vaughan did not show up.

F. Driggs & H. Levine, Black Beauty - White Heat (1996), 320: Photo from the Apollo stage, allegedly from this engagement. Gene Ammons is missing. Parker is not here.

Art Blakey quoted in C. Haddix, Bird -The Life and Music of Charlie Parker (2013), 71: Blakey tells of Parker being drafted during the band's stay at the Apollo.. If true, this may have been at Apollo in December, as Parker was not in the band in the September engagement at Apollo.