Podcast: Charlie Parker Part Three, Bird in L.A., 1945 and 1946

This week’s theme: Bird in Los Angeles, 1945 and 1946, culminating with the famous Lover Man session and his subsequent incarceration at Camarillo State Hospital. I’m not able to attach a direct link to the show for now, but you can access it from the WTBR-FM website. Here’s the link: Charlie Parker Part 3: Bird in LA, 1945 and 1956. Featured artists include Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Al Haig, Stan Levey, Slim Gaillard, Jack McVea, Lucky Thompson, Dodo Marmarosa, Zutty Singleton, Roy Porter, George Handy, Arvin Garrison, Vic McMillan, Howard McGhee, Jimmy Bunn, Bob Kestersoninclude Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Al Haig, Stan Levey, Slim Gaillard, Jack McVea, Lucky Thompson, Dodo Marmarosa, Zutty Singleton, Roy Porter, George Handy, Arvin Garrison, Vic McMillan, Howard McGhee, Jimmy Bunn, Bob Kesterson, and many more.

Podcast: More Early Bird, 1945

This week’s theme: More Charlie Parker, all from 1945 studio recordings. Featured artists include Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Argonne Thornton, Sarah Vaughan, Red Norvo, Teddy Wilson, Flip Phillips, Remo Palmieri, Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, Rubberlegs Williams, Sir Charles Thompson, and many more.

Podcast: Roy Haynes Memorial, Part Two

This week’s theme: Roy Haynes Memorial, Part Two. Featured artists include Roy Haynes, Roland Kirk, Tommy Flanagan, Henry Grimes, Sarah Vaughan, Richard Davis, Thad Jones, Jackie McLean, Phineas Newborn Jr., Bill Evans, Oliver Nelson, Freddie Hubbard, Paul Chambers, Eric Dolphy, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, and many others.

And Now, On Tenor Sax, We Bring You the Great Booker Erwin

Did you know that Booker Erwin is the tenor sax player on the album Mingus Ah Um? Or that it is the tenor saxophone that Sonny Stitt plays on the album Saxophone Supremacy? Or that John Coltrane wrote the song Afro Blue on the Impulse album Live at Birdland? I didn’t know any of this because none of it is true. Except that’s what it says in the liner notes or on the labels. In the process of doing my weekly two-hour radio show/podcast I’m discovering a surprisingly large number of typos and misinformation on liner notes. I was playing the Verve Dizzy Gillespie album Sonny Side Up with Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt. I looked at the liner notes for On the Sunny Side of the Street. It said quite clearly that Rollins has the opening solo and then Stitt has the solo after Dizzy. Listen to the record. Read more

Another Adventure, Part 3: Ornette, Monk, Dee and Me

Dizzy

It was a Thursday when I went to Dee’s, the week before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States. Before I left Dee’s with my five records and four-hour drive, we had one last conversation as I was getting into my car. For a variety of reasons, Dee needed to sell the records by the Spring, hopefully in the May/June time frame. She was concerned that Spring would come and she would still have the records. I told her not to worry; if she still had the records in the Spring, I would drive back, pay her a fair price and take the records so she wouldn’t have to be concerned. She offered on the spot for me to take them all, sell them at my own pace and then pay her later. She was obviously comfortable placing a lot of trust in me, but I politely declined. I didn’t want that much responsibility, tempting as it may have been. Read more

Blue Notes and Beyond

The Jazz Record Center has a veritable Blue Note Jazz Festival on eBay now, with several beauties, including a couple that are already sitting in the $3,000 bin, including: Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 1535. This is an original 12-inch pressing with the Lexington Avenue address, flat rim playing surface and frame cover. This looks to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The auction closes in a bit more than one day and the bidding is already at $3,015. Then there is the Lee Morgan Sextet, Blue Note 1541. This is also an original Lexington Avenue, frame cover pressing, and this one has promo stamps on the labels. The record looks to be in M- condition and the cover is probably M- or, at worse, VG++ for sticklers. The bidding is at $3,000. Read more

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