16-inch acetate disc (J–63 VOA–746 / J–65 VOA–805; matrix numbers on runouts read VOA 746 D–84795 and VOA 805 D–84812), original labels and Radio Disc sleeve. A few minor abrasions to disc, a little wear to sleeve but overall in excellent condition. Columbia’s “for promotion only” gold stamp at head of back cover. ¶ Alan L. Heil, Jr., Voice of America: A History , 2003; Lawrence O. Koch, Yardbird Suite: A Compendium of the Music and Life of Charlie Parker , 1999. £3,500 [147728] 37 PARKER, Charlie. Seven reels from the Chan Parker Tapes. New York: 1950–70 “the real holy grail for most parkerites” – a selection from chan’s personal recordings Superb trove of Parker recordings purchased by legendary Bird collector Norman Saks from the no-less fabled Guernsey’s sale, and formerly in the possession of Bird’s partner, Chan Richardson. “The items that had the ‘Parkerites’ chomping at the bit were the Chan Parker tapes. Recordings of Parker made by Chan either at the concerts, or from the radio. There were many ‘lots’, each with their own special importance. Many included a second tape, a dub of the original, made later on better equipment. Chan had already released most of the recordings at various times but some were never issued and were the real ‘Holy Grail’ for most Parkerites. Not that being released previously lessened their value, as many of these were the source tapes, the ‘masters’, the actual tapes used to record Bird: almost as good as being there: crumbs from the Master’s table” (birdlives.co.uk – Guernsey’s sale). All the material on these tapes has recently been copied onto a USB flashdrive. Offered here are two tapes from the four in lot 146, Reel E “Brooklyn I” and Reel J “Brooklyn II” – the two duplicates having been moved sideways by Saks at some point – a recording of the gig at the Eastern Parkway Ballroom, Brooklyn 23 June 1951. The lineup is Parker, probably Benny Harris (trumpet), Walter Bishop (piano), Teddy Kotick (bass), and Roy Haynes (drums). Peter Losin notes: “lots of crowd noise and echo, as if the recorder were well back in a large crowded hall. It is edited to Parker solos and exchanges throughout”. Losin identifies the trumpeter as Harris, “a regular member of Parker’s Quintet at this time”, noting that “solos (e.g. on ‘Steeplechase’ and ‘Wee’) sound a bit like Red Rodney, but it is probably Harris”. Koch plumps for Rodney as “the best guess based on meagre evidence”; and despite the limitations of the recording finds it strongly evocative: “a certain nostalgic quality to the sound conjures up an image of a small combo in a large hall built for big bands, as happened so often in the transitional period of the early 1950s” (p. 243). Saks has added a complete listing of tunes and timings.
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36 PARKER, Charlie. Original Voice of America recording of the 24 December 1949 Carnegie Hall broadcast. Washington, D.C.: Voice of America, 1949 a tremendous all-around performance Extremely scarce Voice of America radio transcription of the 24 December 1949 Carnegie Hall concert that featured “Charlie Parker and his All-Stars” (Red Rodney, Al Haig, Tommy Potter, Roy Haynes), the group playing three bop standards, “Ornithology”, “Cheryl”, and “Koko”. Bird scholar Lawrence Koch describes it as comprising “some of Parker’s best work” and is “well recorded for a live recording of this period”. Parker really is on scintillating form on these three cuts; maybe the festive season helped, maybe the fact that Birdland, the jazz club on Broadway, had recently been named in his honour. Whatever the reason “Bird is eloquent,” says Koch, “his technique is flowing and his tone is round and full. His ideas, moreover, are fresh, and the long lines hold the listener hypnotized. Rodney also comes on beautifully … This group of
tunes is a good collection of classic Parker”. The broadcast, including “Bird of Paradise” and “Now’s the Time”, was later released on CD (Jass J-CD 16). The B side features the Lennie Tristano Sextet (Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Billy Bauer, Al Shulman, Jeff Martin) on a dreamlike and rather beautiful version of “You Go To My Head”, with Konitz’s veiled tone to the fore, and the uptempo “Sax of a Kind”, which sees the altoist and the deliciously oblique Marsh negotiate the changes with fleet angularity. The government-funded Voice of America, established in 1942 as “America’s official international broadcasting organization” – or, to others, a propaganda tool – “attempted to offer a full range of American music … The best-known VOA effort, clearly, has centered on jazz … It became celebrated in much of the twentieth century as the ‘music of freedom’” (Heil, p. 289). At this time broadcasts were disseminated via overseas affiliates through these 16-inch transcriptions, which were not intended for distribution in the United States. Their rather unwieldy size and fragility would have meant that few could have survived and, inevitably, they are seldom encountered on the open market.
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all releases” from the session, and also containing material “largely unknown, unlisted, and unissued”. The final tape, lotted singly at Guernsey’s as 155, a late 50s/early 60s tape stock 1/4 track recording, probably made in the 60s. It contains a selection of gigs from 1950 to 1953, Birdland and the Royal Roost, and tracks from 26 June 1953, Bird with Max Roach’s All-Stars – Bud Powell, Georges Duvivier, Sonny Stitt, Hank Mobley – “recorded off the air by Chan Parker, with baby Pree in the room (her cries can be heard at 1:48 of Star Eyes”. This is an evocative group from Chan’s own record of Bird’s greatness.
Lot 153 has similarly shed two of its duplicates and consists of four tapes relating to the mysterious Symphony Ballroom, Boston, gig of 21 April 1951, “limited to Parker choruses, solos, and exchanges only on most numbers”. Bird was appearing “with Strings” at Uline’s Arena, Washington, D.C., on that date, Losin suggesting that “the most likely explanation is that this performance began on April 20th and concluded on the 21st” (plosin.com). The band was the same as the previous, with the same quibble about the trumpet, Koch preferring Rodney again, and noting that “Bird comes across well here, if not especially creative”. The Guernsey’s cataloguing describes these tapes as the originals, “the root of
7 quarter-inch reel-to-reel tapes, five in the original card or plastic cases, one in a newly supplied card case, and the last in a “repurposed” Fruit of the Loom “Hosiery” box; all with Chan’s identifications and track listings, some on the boxes, other times on loosely inserted slips of scrap paper, together with subsequent annotations, including those of Norman Saks; all retain the original Ziploc bags and lot tags from Guernsey’s 20 February 2005 Jazz Sale. Boxes a little rubbed and bumped but sound, and the tapes all in good order and playable. ¶ Lawrence O. Koch, Yardbird Suite: A Compendium of the Music and Life of Charlie Parker, 1999; Ken Vail, Charlie Parker & Jazz Club Memorabilia: The Norman R. Saks Collection , 44 for the Boston tapes. £12,500 [148263]
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JAZZ
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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