The music on this set of broadcasts dates from three time periods.
Charlie Parker is heard with his working quintet (December 1948 to February 1949), at a time when he had
Miles Davis or
Kenny Dorham on trumpet, pianist
Al Haig, bassist
Tommy Potter, and drummer
Max Roach. There are five selections from a May 28, 1950, engagement that features trumpeter
Fats Navarro, sounding very strong just a short time before his death (if the date is correct). Also in the band are
Bud Powell,
Curly Russell, and either
Roy Haynes or
Art Blakey. And finally, from the Rockland Palace in 1952,
Parker is teamed with a four-piece rhythm section that includes guitarist
Mundell Lowe and pianist
Walter Bishop. There are two ways to look at this set. On the one hand, the music is available in more complete form elsewhere and the recording quality is often just so-so. But as an introduction to how
Charlie Parker sounded live in clubs as opposed to performing three-minute songs in the studios, there is much remarkable music to be heard.
Parker is as advanced as
Ornette Coleman in spots, his double-time phrases border on the miraculous, and he sounds a decade ahead of the other players, even
Navarro.
Bird's extended choruses on such tunes as "Ornithology," "Wahoo" (which is really "Perdido"), and "Street Beat" are well worth savoring, even if the recording quality is not ideal.