Monday, May 21, 2007

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie


Artist:Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie

Song:Hot House

Album:Diz 'N Bird at Carnegie Hall





This landmark Carnegie Hall concert heralded the coming of bebop. It had been reissued in pieces over the years so it was great when Blue Note took the time to rerelease it in a coherent form. Sax player Charlie Parker & trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie are joined by John Lewis on piano, Al McKibbon on bass and Joe Harris on drums. Most people think of Bird & Dizzy when they hear the word bebop. And as great as they are together, they couldn't have been more different as people. Though he liked to fool around on stage, Dizzy Gillespie was a true gentleman and a clean liver. Charlie Parker's fatal flaw was his heroin addiction. It got so bad Dizzy couldn't work with him anymore. Would Bird show up? Did he pawn his horn? Is he half concious in a flop house? It's too bad because when Bird was on stage, he produced the kind of magic that you can hear on this 1947 Carnegie Hall concert. It's essential for jazz fans. Here's Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie performing Hot House in 1952.

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