Gelder, Remastering Engineer. Mature Artist. Before His Next Savoy Sure

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Gelder, Remastering Engineer. Mature Artist. Before His Next Savoy Sure breathy role here. The brass is muted, recorded in the William Henry apart- friends on Guild (later reissued on and the song features a relaxed im- ment building, New York, N.Y., in Musicraft and now part of the Prestige - provisational line. A good guitar solo 1950.] Zim 1006. Fantasy- Milestone catalog). From there appears here, too. on it grows. All the familiar favorites This is not primarily a flute album, Performance: Late Bird -still are there ( "Ko Ko," "Donna Lee," and some of Horn's old fans might be wondrous and wise "Now's The Time," "Parker's Mood "), disappointed because of that. The Recording: Primitive, but at least it along with their alternate takes and un- gives us the hint of genius finished masters. Interestingly enough, only "Klaunstance" is a one -take job. To begin with a well -known and ob- The other selection with only one vious fact, Charlie Parker was a master, "Warming Up A Riff," is really creative and innovative jazz genius, an out -take on the chords of "Cherokee" perhaps the last we'll ever hear of that which finally ended up as "Ko Ko," a breed. That's quite a statement coming Parker classic. The illustrated booklet from a writer who followed Parker is full of data, details and anecdotes as around Chicago in the late '40s trying to well as a revealing interview with Ted- figure out the new jazz but totally dy Reig to whom we all owe more than unable to comprehend it. I think it's we can pay for recording Bird in the -because of my bad habit of attempting first place. He had to deal with such in- to intellectualize music rather than surmountable odds as Herman Lubin - relying on feelings and emotions. I'd sky's penny -pinching, sub-standard have been better off had I read Parker's engineering in some cases and, I'm 1949 interview in Down Beat where he sure, enough unpredictability on described his music as "It's just music. Parker's part that we can understand a It's playing clean and looking for the lot of the frustration which he conveys pretty notes." And isn't that what all in the interview that paints a less than the jazz giants tried to do- Armstrong, flattering portrait of an artist who was Beiderbecke, Waller, all of them? known to be exasperating at times. PAUL HORN: Splashy and bright So here it is, and when they say com- The Apartment Jams on the Zim LP plete, they mean complete. It's all here: came later, but they are no less essen- album also is not entirely new, because the issued takes, the out takes, the false tial. They had the disadvantage of be- the current pressing actually is a starts, the conversations, essentially ing recorded on a home tape machine restyled package of material that was every note Charlie Parker recorded for and the tapes had undergone some released in the summer of 1978. The Savoy Records. Herman Lubinsky, decay by the time that Art Zimmerman album does have more than forty tainted saint that he was, did at least managed to get them onto LP (read his minutes of bright, if somewhat inconse- one thing right. Everything that was technical note on the sleeve for the full quential, collaboration between Horn recorded, issued or not, was preserved details). The other disadvantage is that and Schifrin. S.R. on sixteen -inch acetate safety copies. so many players showed up at the jams, These were stored away in vaults and and there was so little available tape, were not available to collectors. Conse- that only Bird's solos were preserved. CHARLIE PARKER: The Complete quently, when Bob Porter found them While I'd like to hear more of Jon Eard- Savoy Studio Sessions. [Bob Porter, they were in shape to reissue. Bob ly on trumpet, Jimmy Knepper on Steve Baker, producers; Rudy Van would have made that project number trombone and Gers Yowell on piano, Gelder, remastering engineer. one at Savoy except that the Detroit the most important player on the date Original 78s produced by Buck Ram session of December 21, 1947 was miss- was Bird and the priorities of the re- and Teddy Reig; recorded in New ing. Bob wasn't about to bring out an in- cordists were right on target. So we York, N.Y. and Detroit, Michigan, be- complete complete collection. His pa- have other alternates from the reper- tween Sept. 15, 1944 and Sept. 24, tience was eventually rewarded, for toires of Savoy (e.g. "Half Nelson "), Dial 1948; recording engineers included while checking a stack of unlabeled ten (e.g. "Scrapple From The Apple ") and Doug Hawkins, Harry Smith and Jim inch dubbings, he turned up the missing the later Norman Granz /Mercury/ Syracusa.] Savoy 5500. Detroit safeties which had been record- Verve repertoire (e.g. "Star Eyes "). ed on ten -inchers due to a lack of six- They are all separate parts of the Performance: From early -Bird to teen -inch discs in the Detroit studio. whole Charlie Parker, done just as midflight -all things There is a lot of Charlie Parker on though five years before his untimely wondrous and wise these LPs that you'll be hearing for the death he had a premonition that he'd Recording: Remarkable, especially first time. The September 1944 Tiny better get his latest thoughts on these considering how poor the Grimes session that opens this five - classics down. Frankly, I don't originals were album set may well be the first session remember if he was playing things like to show Parker as a fully -developed, "Donna Lee" and "Little Willie Leaps" CHARLIE PARKER: Apartment Jam mature artist. Before his next Savoy as a part of his normal repertoire that Sessions. [Art Zimmerman, producer; date, his first as leader, he had come to late in his career or not. But he sure Jerry Valburn, reissue engineer; from national attention via recordings with played them in 1950 at Gers Yowell's home recordings in the collections of Red Norvo's group on Comet and two apartment jams. Gers Yowell and Don Lamphers; sessions with Dizzy Gillespie and So those who got hold of the com- 118 MODERN RECORDING .
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