These are low-fidelity fragmentary recordings. Recording equipment noise is audible
on "Ornithology," Out of Nowhere," and (especially) "Half Nelson."
Parker was in Paris to participate in the
Festival International
1949 de Jazz,
which included many traditional acts from the United States -- Sidney Bechet,
Russell Moore, Oran "Hot Lips" Paige -- but also introduced bebop groups like
the Charlie Parker Quintet and the Miles Davis-Tadd Dameron quintet. Also on the
bill were
musicians from England (Vic Lewis' big band), Belgium (Toots Thielemans Trio),
Switzerland (Hazy Osterwald's quintet), Italy (Armando Trovajoli), and of course
many from France (including Aimé Barelli, Hubert Rostang, the Django Reinhardt
Quintet).
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[Jazz Hot
Nr. 22 (Mai 1949)]
Parker arrived in Paris on Friday, May 6, with Sidney Bechet, Kenny Clarke, and
several other American musicians. The following day rehearsals were scheduled at
the Salle Pleyel (Parker was AWOL and missed this one) and the Club St. Germain,
and in the evening the festival promoters threw a cocktail party for the musicians
at the Pavilion de 'Elysee. The Parker Quintet was in France for nine more days
(May 8-16), booked at the following venues:
May 8-9: Salle Pleyel, Paris (Festival International de Jazz -- opposite Sidney
Bechet, Hot Lips Page, the Miles Davis-Tadd Dameron Quintet, and others)
May 10: Rex Theatre, Club Martinez et Christera, Marseilles
May 11: evening jam session at Cité Universitaire, Paris
May 12: Colisée Movie Theatre, Roubaix
May 14: Salle Pleyel, Paris
May 15: Salle Pleyel (two concerts, including closing All-Star jam session)
Or, as the liner notes to Spotlite SPJ-118 have it,
Bird and his men -- Kenny Dorham, Al Haig, Tommy Potter, and Max Roach -- played
evening concerts on the Sunday and Monday, then did a concert the following Saturday,
winding up with afternoon and evening shows on Sunday, May 15, the final day of
the festival. From Tuesday to Friday the group undertook a short tour playing concerts
in Roubaix and Marseille before returning to Paris.
André Hodeir reviewed the festival in his essay "Le Festival
1949" in
Jazz Hot
No. 34 (Juin 1949), pp. 7-10.
Thanks to Pascal Garnier for sharing the Juin 1949 issue of Jazz Hot, and to
Leif Bo Petersen for help with the itinerary.
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