Charlie Parker & Lennie Tristano: Complete Recordings

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Charlie Parker (as)

Label:

Bird's Nest

February/2021

Media Format:

CD, LP

Catalogue Number:

244113

RecordDate:

13 September 1947-August 1951

A less cohesive collection than the other Parker reissue album reviewed above, this has a couple of airshots, a studio session and two excellent standards from a private duet at Tristano's home. Except for the latter and the closing three tracks, the pianist and Bird are mostly not on an equal footing, despite their mutual admiration society. The reason is that the bulk of this material consists of all-star dates that didn't do either of them a huge favour. The famous live 1947 broadcasts capitalised on the then-significant ‘war’ between followers of bop and trad-jazz, with a group of musicians of each stripe alternating – only the boppers are preserved here – and the bebop ‘winners’ returning for a victory lap. Their one collectors' item was always the rather bizarre Parker-Gillespie adaptation of ‘Tiger Rag’, but the programme (not to mention the announcers' contribution) was rather incoherent, containing two piano trios without Bird and, on the return trip where Navarro replaces Dizzy, a young Sarah Vaughan vocal. The well-known 1949 Metronome All Stars session had an 11-piece band with lots of short solos, but the three takes of ‘Victory Ball’ are by a smaller group and show Parker playing a tune actually written by Tristano.

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