Tag Archives: Charlie Parker

Miles Davis: Round About Midnight

Leave a comment

On March 4, 1957, “Columbia” label released “’Round About Midnight”, the 28th Miles Davis album. It was recorded October 26, 1955, June 5 – September 10, 1956, at “Columbia Studios” in New York City, and was produced by George Avakian.

Personnel:

  • Miles Davis – trumpet
  • John Coltrane– tenor saxophone
  • Red Garland– piano
  • Paul Chambers– double bass
  • Philly Joe Jones– drums
  • George Avakian– liner notes
  • Frank Laico – engineer
  • Teo Macero– mastering
  • Aram Avakian, Don Hunstein, Dennis Stock– photography

Track listing:

  1. Round Midnight – Thelonious Monk, Bernie Hanighen, Cootie Williams
  2. Ah-Leu-Cha – Charlie Parker
  3. All of You – Cole Porter
  4. Bye Bye Blackbird – Mort Dixon, Ray Henderson
  5. Tadd’s Delight – Tadd Dameron
  6. Dear Old Stockholm – traditional, arranged by Stan Getz

Hank Mobley: Mobley’s Message

Leave a comment

In January 1957, “Prestige” label released “Mobley’s Message”, the third Hank Mobley album. It was recorded in July, 1956,  at “Van Gelder Studio” in Hackensack, and was produced by Bob Weinstock.

Personnel:

  • Hank Mobley- tenor saxophone
  • Donald Byrd– trumpet
  • Barry Harris– piano
  • Doug Watkins– bass
  • Art Taylor– drums
  • Jackie McLean- alto saxophone

Track listing:

All tracks by Hank Mobley, except where noted.

  1. Bouncing with Bud – Bud Powell
  2. 52nd Street Theme – Thelonious Monk
  3. Minor Disturbance
  4. Au Privave – Charlie Parker
  5. Little Girl Blue – Hart, Rodgers
  6. Alternating Current

Elvin Jones: Dear John C.

Leave a comment

In November 1965, “Impulse” label released “Dear John C.”, the fifth Elvin Jones album. It was recorded in February 1965, at “Van Gelder Studio” in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, and was produced by Bob Thiele.

Personnel:

  • Elvin Jones– drums
  • Charlie Mariano- alto saxophone
  • Roland Hanna, Hank Jones – piano
  • Richard Davis– bass
  • Rudy van Gelder – engineer
  • Robert Flynn – design
  • Joe Lebow – design
  • Charles Stewart – photography

Track listing:

  1. Dear John C. – Hammer, Thiele
  2. Smoke Rings – Gifford, Washington
  3. Love Bird – Charlie Mingus
  4. Feeling Good – Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse
  5. Anthropology – Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker
  6. This Love of Mine – Sol Parker, Hank Sanicola, Sinatra
  7. Fantazm – Duke Ellington
  8. Ballade – Hammer
  9. Everything Happens to Me – Tom Adair, Matt Dennis

Joe Felds

Leave a comment

On July 12, 2017, Joe Fields died aged 88. He has worked for “London Records”,  “MGM”, “Verve”, “Prestige”, “Sue Records”, and “Buddha Records” (started their jazz division, “Cobblestone Records”), before he started his own label “Muse Records” in 1973. The label featured artists such as Pat Martino, Houston Person, Cedar Walton, Charlie Earland, Larry Coryell and Woody Shaw. In the 80’s Fields acquired “Savoy” and “Landmark Records” labels. “Savoy” owned recordings by Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dexter Gordon, among others. In 1997, Joe, and his son Barney, launched “HighNote” and “Savant Records”, labels that features artists such as Kenny Burrell, Houston Person, Wallace Roney, Eric Alexander, Freddy Cole, Tom Harrell and Russell Malone.

John Lewis

Leave a comment

On March 29, 2001, John Aaron Lewis died aged 80. He was musician  (piano), composer and arranger, best known as the founder and musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Lewis recorded and performed with number of musicians, including Bill Perkins, Jim Hall, Percy Heath, Chico Hamilton, Sacha Distel,  Gunther Schuller, Svend Asmussen, Albert Mangelsdorff, Helen Merrill, Christian Escoudé,  Hank Jones,  Lew Tabackin, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis Nonet, Harold Farberman, Clifford Brown, Ruth Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Joe Newman, Sonny Stitt and J. J. Johnson.

Dizzy Gillespie

Leave a comment

On January 6, 1993, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie died aged 75. He was musician (trumpet), singer, composer and bandleader, trumpet virtuoso and improviser,  regarded as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time. Together with Charlie Parker, Gillespie was major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He has recorded and performed with some of the most important musicians in the jazz history, including Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Stan Getz, Sonny Stit,Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins,Benny Golson, Bobby Hackett, Mary Lou Williams, Willie Ruff, Dwike Mitchell, Art Blakey, Al McKibbon, Thelonious Monk, Kai Winding, Joe Turner, Roy Eldridge, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Clark Terry, Oscar Peterson, John Lewis, Hank Jones, Percy Heath, Roy Eldridge,  Machito, Benny Carter, Lalo Schifrin, Count Basie, Freddie Hubbard,  Arturo Sandoval, Phil Woods, Moe Koffman, United Nation Orchestra, Jackie McLean, Percy Heath, Ron Holloway, Ed Cherry, John Lee, Ignacio Berroa, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Mike Longo, Manhattan Transfer,  Carmen McRae, Katie Bell Nubin,  Mongo Santamaria, Woody Shaw, Lillian Terry and Randy Weston.

The Birdland Jazz Club

Leave a comment

On December 15, 1949, “The Birdland Jazz Club”, named after Charlie Parker, opens in New York City. The club was located at “1678 Broadway” and worked until in 1965. The club re-opened for in1979 and in 1986 the second club located in “Manhattan’s Theater District” opened. The club current location is in the building next to The New York Observer headquarters.Some of the biggest names in Jazz history performed in “Birdland” including: Chet Baker; Count Basie; Roy Haynes; Jon Hendricks; Billie Holiday; Dave Holland; Freddie Hubbard; Hank Jones; Quincy Jones; Michel Legrand; Ramsey Lewis; Pat Martino; George Benson; Art Blakey; Dave Brubeck; Ron Carter; John Coltrane; Miles Davis; Sammy Davis Jr.; Blossom Dearie; Billy Eckstine; Duke Ellington; Maynard Ferguson; Ella Fitzgerald; Slim Gaillard; Erroll Garner; Stan Getz; Modern Jazz Quartet; Thelonious Monk; Anita O’Day; Charlie Parker; Oscar Peterson; Machito; Tito Puente; Bud Powell; Horace Silver; Nina Simone; Jimmy Smith; Billy Taylor; Clark Terry; McCoy Tyner; Sarah Vaughan; Dinah Washington; Joe Williams; Tony Williams; Lester Young; Michael Brecker; Melissa Manchester; Pat Metheny; Liza Minnelli; Michel Petrucciani; Harry Connick Jr.; Kurt Elling; Kevin Eubanks; Norah Jones; Diana Krall; Joe Lovano; John Pizzarelli; John Scofield; Maria Schneider; Phoebe Snow; Phil Woods and Yellowjacket.

Charlie Parker

Leave a comment

On March 12, 1955, Charles Parker, Jr. died aged 35. He was musician  (alt and tenor saxophone) and composer,  regarded the leading figure in the development of bebop and inventor of revolutionary harmonic ideas including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords and chord substitutions, “Yardbird” or “Bird” gained the status of one of the most influential and important musicians in the history of jazz. Parker became an icon for the hipster subculture and the Beat Generation, personifying the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual rather than just an entertainer.

Charles Mingus

Leave a comment

On January 5, 1977, Charles Mingus Jr. Died aged 57. He was musician (bass), composer and bandleader, regarded as one of the most creative and influential Jazz artists of all times.

For his work and contribution to the modern music, Mingus has received many awards including:

  • “Guggenheim Fellowship” (1971).
  • Inducted in the “Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame” (1971).
  • “National Endowment for the Arts” provided grants for a Mingus nonprofit called “Let My Children Hear Music” which cataloged all of Mingus’s works (1988)
  • “The Library of Congress” acquired Mingus’s collected papers in what they described as “the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library’s history.(1993)]
  • “The United States Postal Service” issued a stamp in his honor (1995).
  • Posthumously awarded the “Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award” (1997)
  • Album “Mingus Dynasty”(1959) inducted in the “Grammy Hall of Fame” (1999)
  • Inducted in the “Jazz at Lincoln Center”, Nesuhi Ertegun “Jazz Hall of Fame” (2005)

Mingus has recorded and performed with some of the most important musicians of the modern music, including: Illinois Jacquet, Dinah Washington, Wilbert Baranco, Ivie Anderson, Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Billy Taylor, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach,  Bud Powell, Paul Bley, Teo Macero, Oscar Pettiford,  Ada Moore,  Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, Hazel Scott, John Mehegan,  Thad Jones, John Dennis, Ralph Sharon, Miles Davis, Teddy Charles, The Metronome All-Stars, Jimmy Knepper, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Max Roach and Eric Dolphy.