Session details: Birdland (December 23, 1950)

Charlie Parker session details

December 23, 1950 (9 items; TT = 19:40)

Birdland, New York NY

WJZ-AM radio broadcast (B)

Show chatter

Charlie Parker (as); Red Rodney [Robert Chudnick] (tpt); Kenny Drew (p); Dillon "Curley" Russell (b); Art Blakey (d); Bob Garrity (ann); Symphony Sid Torin (ann)

1	Announcement (Bob Garrity)	0:04
	"...Charlie Parker and Billy Taylor. Let's go jumping with Symphony Sid..."
2	Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (with introduction) (L. Young)	0:51
	Voiceover from 0:15: "That's it, ladies and gentlemen, we're here at Birdland at the jazz corner of the world, where we've taken our WJZ microphones right to the bandstand to bring you the first live broadcast, as we will every Friday. And don't forget, come on by, and I think you'll have a lot of fun. Every Friday, three o'clock, three o'clock to four o'clock, we take our WJZ microphones right here into the room. And I think we ought to give him a great big hand, ladies and gentlemen, Charlie Parker and the All-Stars, a big hand for Charlie Parker... And that means Charlie Parker on alto, Red Rodney on trumpet, Curley Russell, Kenny Drew, and Art Blakey... Let's hear 'Anthropology'..."
3	Anthropology (D. Gillespie-C. Parker)	4:07
	Parker, Rodney, and Blakey exchanges following piano solo (3:13-3:38)
4	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:04
5	Embraceable You (G. Gershwin-I. Gershwin)	4:56
	Parker is alone on opening choruses; he plays obbligatos behind Rodney on closing chorus. "Country Gardens" tag (4:49-4:56)
6	Cheryl (C. Parker)	4:33
	Parker, Rodney, and Blakey exchanges following piano solo (3:23-3:48)
7	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:03
	"...The very famous 'Salt Peanuts'..."
8	Salt Peanuts (D. Gillespie-K. Clarke)	4:27
	Parker (voc). During his solo Parker tosses off a quick allusion to "Country Gardens" (2:07-2:09)
9	Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (with closing announcement) (L. Young)	0:35
	Voiceover 0:15-0:30: "Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Charlie Parker. Hope you've had a lot of fun listening to all the wonderful things. Don't forget, the Bird, Charlie Parker, Red Rodney, Art Blakey, will be here at the usual (undecipherable) until the first of the year..."


1 Announcement (Bob Garrity) CD: Ember/Fat Boy FBB 901, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
2 Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (with introduction) CD: Royal Jazz RJD 506, Philology Volume 9 (W 120), Ember/Fat Boy FBB 901, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
3 Anthropology CD: Royal Jazz RJD 506, Philology Volume 9 (W 120), Ember/Fat Boy FBB 901, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
4 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) CD: Royal Jazz RJD 506, Philology Volume 9 (W 120), Ember/Fat Boy FBB 901, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
5 Embraceable You CD: Royal Jazz RJD 506, Philology Volume 9 (W 120), Ember/Fat Boy FBB 901, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
6 Cheryl CD: Royal Jazz RJD 506, Philology Volume 9 (W 120), Ember/Fat Boy FBB 901, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
7 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) CD: Royal Jazz RJD 506, Philology Volume 9 (W 120), Ember/Fat Boy FBB 901, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
8 Salt Peanuts CD: Royal Jazz RJD 506, Philology Volume 9 (W 120), Ember/Fat Boy FBB 901, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339
9 Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (with closing announcement) CD: Royal Jazz RJD 506, Philology Volume 9 (W 120), Ember/Fat Boy FBB 901, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1339

These are complete performances, but poor fidelity which gets worse as set progresses. The version on Philology and Royal Jazz is almost a whole step sharp.

Although this material is usually listed as from December 8, that date is almost certainly incorrect. Parker was hospitalized on December 4 for a peptic ulcer, and besides the Mercury recording session with Machito and His Orchestra on December 21, he was out of commission for most of the month. He was booked at the Rendezvous in Philadelphia for a week beginning on Christmas night ("Rhythm and Blues Notes," Billboard, December 16, 1950, p. 31 states that Parker left the hospital "last week" and will start to work Christmas night. Personnel for the Philadelphia gig was listed as Parker, Red Rodney, Kenny Drew, Curley Russell, and Phil Brown.)

The opening announcement indicates that this is the first WJZ broadcast from Birdland. According to Leif Bo Petersen, the Birdland bills in December 1950 included:

December 7-14: Bill Farrell and Errol Garner;
December 15-20: Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Brown Trio, Billy Taylor Quartet, and Bud Powell Trio;
December 21-January 4: Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Brown Trio, Billy Taylor Quartet (Terry Gibbs was also added to the bill in late December).

It seems likely that this set was recorded after midnight on December 16 or 23. Powell's trio may have been replaced by the Parker quintet, since during this period Powell's behavior was erratic and unreliable. The closing announcement suggests that Parker may have continued at Birdland until late in December; if so, it may be that the Christmas engagement in Philadelphia was canceled.

Boris Rose is not the source of this recording. His first off-the-air recording from Birdland is on December 30 (Bill Harris, Terry Gibbs, and Ella Fitzgerald). The items listed here do not appear in Rose's lists, and they were probably recorded by someone else.

I'm grateful to Leif Bo Petersen for his help with this session.