Podcast: Bird, Bop, Dex, With a Twist

This week’s theme: Contrafacts, aka a vocal of the original pop song, such as How High the Moon, followed by a bopified version, such as Ornithology. Other examples: Sweet Georgia Brown/Bright Mississippi; I Got Rhythm/Moose the Mooche; It Could Happen to You/Fried Bananas; Embraceable You/Quasimodo; All the Things You Are/Boston Bernie; Indiana/Donna Lee; Cherokee/Koko. You get the idea. Featured artists include Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Rouse, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Clifford Brown, Max Roach and many, many more.

Podcast: Another Dash of Duke

This week’s theme: Songs from the Ellington Songbook, vocal and instrumental versions. Songs include Cottontail, Lush Life, In a Sentimental Mood, In a Mellowtone, Come Sunday, Take the A Train, Just Squeeze Me, and more. Artists include John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O-Day, Johnny Hartman, Mahalia Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, Wes Montgomery, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Coleman Hawkins, Clark Terry and more.

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.

Actually, just noticed that the direct link to play from here is now fixed, so here it is:

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

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