Session details: Royal Roost Club (March 5, 1949)

Charlie Parker session details

March 5, 1949 (26 items; TT = 54:04)

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); Dave Lambert (voc); Buddy Stewart (voc); Miles Davis (tpt); Ted Kelly (tb); Sahib Shihab [Edmund Gregory] (as); Benjamin Lundy (ts); Cecil Payne (bs); Tadd Dameron (p); John Collins (g); Dillon "Curley" Russell (b); Kenny Clarke (d); Carlos Vidal (bgo); 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); Paula Castle (voc); Symphony Sid Torin (ann); Bob Garrity (ann)

1	Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (L. Young)	1:16
	Voiceover from 0:02: "And so, ladies and gentlemen, with our theme song done by the great Bird, Charlie Parker and the All-Stars, we take our WMCA microphones right down to the Royal Roost, just like we do every morning, that is every Friday, Saturday morning, we take our WMCA microphones right down here to the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House on Broadway between 47th and 48th Street, right opposite the Strand Theatre, where for only ninety cents you can sit back and relax from 9:30 in the evening till four in the morning and dig the gonest, the gonest sounds of pure modern progressive jazz. And don't forget, Bop City is coming to New York, right opposite the Snake Pit. And if you haven't heard about Bop City, really, you haven't lived. I'd like to introduce the gentlemen, the great Bird organization, Charlie Parker on alto, Mr. Bop himself, Lucky Thompson on tenor, Milt Jackson on vibraharp, Max Roach on drums, Tommy Potter on bass, the great Al Haig on piano. Let's give 'em a great big hand... And so to start things jumpin', this came out of the Parker album for Savoy, here's one I'm sure you enjoy, 'Cheryl'..."
2	Cheryl (C. Parker)	3:38
	The ensemble is very ragged, and Parker has intonation problems. Parker and Dorham exchanges for half a chorus following Thompson's solo (3:03-3:12). Haig is missing
3	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:27
	"And so, ladies and gentlemen, there's the great Bird, Charlie Parker and the All-Stars, 'Cheryl'. Wonderful side I hope... Side! Always think I'm playin' records, but this is here at the Royal Roost, it's the gentlemen in the flesh. Did I say Kenny Dorham on trumpet before? I didn't. That was Kenny Dorham on trumpet. Right now, ladies and gentlemen, another one of the great things you always ask for, 'Anthropology'..."
4	Anthropology (D. Gillespie-C. Parker)	5:01
	Haig returns to the stage during Thompson's solo (he is audible from 4:17)
5	Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (L. Young)	1:09
	Voiceover from 0:06: "Oh what a frantic place, the Royal Roost, ladies and gentlemen, the Metropolitan Bopera House here on Broadway between 47th and 48th Street, right opposite the Strand Theatre. 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 got to do is sit back and relax from 9:30 until four and dig the gonest. And now with the great Charlie Parker and the All-Stars, Milt Jackson, Lucky Thompson, Al Haig, Max Roach, Tommy Potter, Kenny Dorham, everybody's here at the Royal Roost, ladies and gentlemen, and I know that you out there are really havin' a wonderful time diggin' the gone sounds that come out at the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House on Broadway between 47th and 48th Street, right opposite the Strand Theatre. And right now, ladies and gentlemen..., right now, ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to bring to you the two greats in modern vocal bop, Buddy Stewart and Dave Lambert. Let's bring 'em on with a great big hand..."
6	Hurry Home (B. Bernier-R. Emmerich-J. Meyer)	2:25
	Parker takes a one-chorus solo (1:22-1:40)
7	Deedle (D. Lambert-B. Stewart)	2:04
	Parker takes a one-chorus solo (1:21-1:39)
8	Royal Roost Bop [All the Things You Are] (D. Lambert-B. Stewart)	2:11
9	Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (L. Young)	0:19
	Voiceover from 0:05: "So, with the two frantic characters, Buddy Stewart and Dave Lambert, doing the wonderful sides for you that I hope you really enjoy, was the great Bird, the All-Stars..., the great Bird, the All-Stars, and I know that you've had a lot of fun. This morning everybody's here at the Royal Roost, I saw Woody Herman a little while ago, he's standing at the bar. Let's give Woody Herman a great big hand..." (theme ends)
10	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	2:15
	"Woody Herman is back there, I also saw Charlie Ventura, I saw Serge Chaloff. Oh everybody's here this morning... Conte Candoli, everybody is here at the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House, on Broadway between 47th and 48th Street, right opposite Bop City. Across the street from, ah, the Snake Pit. If you haven't heard about Snake Pit, wait until you hear about Bop City. Wow! Everything's jumpin' here at the Royal Roost. His Lordship was here this morning, Mrs. Lordship is gone... Jack Healy died. Rocky Graziano's manager. Everybody's here, even, ah, Mal Braveman. (laughter) Mal Braveman, Monte Kay, Mildred Bailey? Is Mildred Bailey in the house? Aw, yes she is -- let's give her a big hand, Mildred Bailey... And don't forget, down at the Royal Roost it's always the modern pure progressive jazz on Broadway between 47th and 48th Streets, right opposite the Strand Theatre, where you can sit back and relax from 9:30 till four in the morning and kill yourself. If you don't want to kill yourself, well, you can just have a wonderful time. And right now, ladies and gentlemen, another one of the groups that are featured down at the Royal Roost, the great Tadd Dameron organization, featuring Kai Winding, let's see if I know everybody... Shihab, I know Ben Lundy on tenor... I know Cecil Payne... I know, know Carlos Vidal, and uh... Klook, heh-heh, Klook there, Curley Russell, let's see, who else? Tadd Dameron plays piano, you know. What are we gonna play -- oh, John Collins... Who else? I think I've mentioned everybody. Uh, what are we gonna do first, Tadd? You say we will? Here's, uh, an original thing by Tadd Dameron, recorded by the great Dizzy Gillespie organization. One, two, three, let's hit 'Good Bait'..." On Savoy issued versions the announcement fades out at Ben Lundy, and UL-TADD TDFN XX includes only the call for "Good Bait"
11	Good Bait (T. Dameron-C. Basie)	4:09
12	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:06
	"The great Tadd Dameron group, ladies and gentlemen, here at the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House. And here's their theme, a wonderful thing that you always ask for, 'The Squirrel'..."
13	The Squirrel (T. Dameron)	3:36
14	Announcement (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:11
	"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, that was the great Tadd Dameron group here at the Royal Roost, the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House, where you hear the gonest..."
15	Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (L. Young)	0:47
	"Go ahead... (Voiceover from 0:15) And so once again, ladies and gentlemen, we're back to the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House, where we bring you the frantic, the most frantic, where the lights are low and the music is a real knocked-out groove. As we told you all week long, it's the great Chubby Jackson and the All-Stars, Chubby Jackson and his wonderful band... Let's give 'em a great big hand... and, without wasting too much time, I'd like to tell you all about the Chubby Jackson organization. I know about Ray Turner, I know about everybody... Here's 'Tiny's Blues'..."
16	Tiny's Blues (T. Dameron)	5:30
17	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:30
	"Oh, what a crazy band.... Ladies and gentlemen, this is the craziest band in the land, the great Chubby Jackson and his sixteen-piece organization here at the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House on Broadway near Bop City, all right, right across the street from the Snake Pit, Rocky Graziano. Ha-ha-ha, I got six words [undecipherable], ha-ha-ha-ha... And right now, although we're eatin' a lot lemon drops around here this morning, here's Tiny, Tiny Kahn's original thing called 'Father Knickerbocker'..."
18	Father Knickerbocker (E. Wilson)	3:09
19	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:27
	"Oh, what a crazy outfit this is! Ooh, it's [undecipherable], Chubby Jackson's out of his... Yes, he is. Greatest band in the world. And right now, ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to bring the vocal... what's the vocalist's name there again?" PC: "Paula Castle." SS: "Miss Paula Castle.... We'll bring Miss Paula Castle, ladies and gentlemen. Paula Castle to do... a very favorite I know you'll enjoy, 'Tenderly'..."
20	Tenderly (W. Gross-J. Lawrence)	3:14
	"Sing it, Paula..."
21	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:15
	"The jazz center of the world, ladies and gentlemen. I'll tell ya more about it, don't worry. Whaddya mean, keep punchin'? Look you, I got six words for you. Rocky Graziano. And right now, ladies and gentlemen, here's your all-time favorite, 'Lemon Drop'..."
22	Lemon Drop (W. Herman)	3:33
23	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:46
	SS: "...'Lemon Drop', ladies and gentlemen, the great Chubby Jackson organization doing lemming, lemming -- 'Lemming Drop', 'Lemming Drop', from Brooklyn. Hey, ah, come here, meeskite. This is the all-night, all-frantic meeskite. What are we gonna do next there, lover?" CJ: "Sid, I'd like to say before we play this little tune 'Boomsie', that it's the most extreme pleasure of my entire life being here tonight, opening like this. It's something I've looked forward all my life, and I wanna thank you so very much, the little things you've done for me on the air, time after time, sorta made this thing possible." SS: "It's only because you say it, it's true... (laughs) What are we gonna do next?" CJ: "We'd like to do a little thing we recorded... in Europe, it's written for my little dog, my little wire-haired pup. Sid, we call it 'Boomsie'..." SS: "Yeah, 'Boomsie'..."
24	Boomsie (S. Rogers)	5:48
25	Announcement (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:57
	"And so, ladies and gentlemen, you've heard from the great Chubby Jackson organization here at the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House, where we give you the gonest... and a lot of excitement, remember, it's the Metropolitan Bopera House, not too far from Bop City, across the street from the Snake Pit. We've had our WMCA microphones here at the Royal Roost, with the great Tadd Dameron and the All-Stars, Charlie Parker and his wonderful group, Buddy Stewart and Davey Lambert and the great [undecipherable], Chubby Jackson. Come down to the Royal Roost, tell me if you have a wonderful, wonderful time. The Royal Roost, where the lights are low and the music with a real crazy groove, on Broadway between 47th and 48th Street right opposite the Strand Theatre. And so we just about wind up four-and-a-half hours here on the all-night, all-frantic one -- the Symphony Sid show, Bob Garrity, Bud Hayes, yours truly. And don't forget the Gone Side, right after the four o'clock, ask for 'Bop City', ask for all the great records made by Brew Moore and all the rest... Right now, back to the studio."
26	Closing announcement (Bob Garrity)	0:21
	Garrity: "OK, Sid, thanks, we are back at the studio, ready with two more hours of music right up until six o'clock. For late news followed by... yes, the Gone Side, stay tuned to the Symphony Sid show, with music recorded over America's leading independent station... WMCA, first on your dial, New York."


1 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), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
2 Cheryl 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
3 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), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
4 Anthropology 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
5 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), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
6 Hurry Home 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
7 Deedle 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
8 Royal Roost Bop 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
9 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), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
10 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) 12" LP: UL-TADD TDFN XX 1500 Air Check Series CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
11 Good Bait 12" LP: UL-TADD TDFN XX 1500 Air Check Series
12 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) 12" LP: UL-TADD TDFN XX 1500 Air Check Series
13 The Squirrel 12" LP: UL-TADD TDFN XX 1500 Air Check Series
14 Announcement (Symphony Sid Torin) 12" LP: UL-TADD TDFN XX 1500 Air Check Series
15 Jumpin' with Symphony Sid CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
16 Tiny's Blues 12" LP: Mopaque CJR 300 CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
17 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
18 Father Knickerbocker 12" LP: Mopaque CJR 300 CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
19 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
20 Tenderly 12" LP: Mopaque CJR 300 CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
21 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
22 Lemon Drop 12" LP: Mopaque CJR 300 CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
23 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
24 Boomsie 12" LP: Mopaque CJR 300 CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
25 Announcement (Symphony Sid Torin) CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76
26 Closing announcement (Bob Garrity) CD: Uptown UPCD 27.75/27.76

Parker was joined by Tadd Dameron's Big Ten for a month-long engagement. Leonard Hawkins was on trumpet for the first week, but Miles Davis replaced him on subsequent broadcasts from the Roost (February 19 and 26, and March 5). Many of these fine recordings are collected on Philology Volume 20 (W 850). Chubby Jackson had recently begun an extended stay at the Roost, and this gives us nearly an hour of the all-frantic Symphony Sid show.

This is another ragged set. The absence of Al Haig (who re-enters during Thompson's solo in "Anthropology") may account for some of this, since Jackson comes in for his solo sixteen bars too early. Roach attempts to fill in for the missing Haig -- and ends up sounding like Kenny Clarke!