Session details: Royal Roost Club (March 12, 1949)

Charlie Parker session details

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
	"...Jackson on vibraharp and Lucky Thomas [sic] on tenor. And to start things jumping, while a lot of you frantic ones out there sit back and relax and dig the gone things, here he is with 'Cheryl'..."
2	Cheryl (C. Parker)	3:27
	Thompson does not play during the opening theme; he and Jackson don't play during the closing theme
3	Introduction (Parker)	0:13
	Over Haig's noodling, Parker introduces the next tune: "And next, ladies and gentlemen, on the program, will be Charlie Parker, Yardbird, doing 'Slow Boat to China'..." Incomplete (0:08) on Savoy 17021/4 and Definitive
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
	SS: "And so, ladies and gentlemen, you've, ah, actually and finally heard the voice of, ah, Mr. B, the wonderful and sensational Charlie Yardbird Parker. If my boss heard that, Bird, I dunno." CP: "I'm sorry, I forgot what you told me to say..." SS: "Yeah, but... You know, Charlie Parker has a wonderful voice, one of these days he'll get up and sing for us. Well, let's keep right on jumpin' as long as we're in that groove, and before we do I like to, I'd like for everybody to meet a gentleman and, gentleman that I think, well, you all ought to know, because he's our next heavyweight champion of the world, Ezzard Charles. Ladies and gentlemen, Ezzard Charles... Thanks for comin' down, man. There he is, our next heavyweight champ of the world. And everybody falls down to the Royal Roost, where you sit back and relax and dig the gone sounds and the gone people. How 'bout that, Ezzard? We keep right on going, and here's another one of the great things, one I hope you really enjoy, uh, should we do that one? 'Chasin' the Bird'... or 'Carvin' the Bird'?" CP: "Chasin'" SS: "Chasin' or Carvin'?" CP, more emphatically: "Chasing." SS: "All right, he says 'Chasin' the Bird', so let's go with the Bird and 'Chasing the Bird'..."
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..."