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As I've maybe mentioned here before, many self-described "jazz purists" either dislike or make excuses for Charlie Parker's interest in large band and orchestra formats near the end of his life. I don't share either of those views. The quality of each recorded effort varies, of course, just like in real life. And the observation---not a profound one, really---that Parker did these performances to sustain or enhance his income is immaterial to me. As they used to say in England during the Renaissance, "Shakespeare got to get paid, son."Entertainment corporations tell us that rock and roll is "the soundtrack of our lives," but I'd argue that for individuals born before, say, the Kennedy administration, this style of music is every bit as much a part of our "soundtrack" as rock is (at least those of us who grew up in a major urban area). I'm not saying that Parker, specifically, was necessarily a component of our collective unconscious, but rather the orchestral setting for musical treatments of jazz standards and show tunes that our parents used to have on the car radio, during folding and ironing time, and so on, was endemic and burned deeply into our little neuro nets.
To the postmodern youthful ear, which often hears pop music from the past through a filter of campy irony, this cut may sound like something that "Mad Men" used to boink the secretary to after hours. But the best of the lush sounds from this era---say 1950 through 1960---have a deep resonance to those of us who were innocent kids waiting to be fed homemade burgers and fries on Saturday night or cruising southwest down U.S. highways toward a vacation in the era immediately before rock ascended into prominence. So to all those ultra-hip jazz purists who look down on Bird's big band and orchestral digressions, I say "fuck you, asshole."
My feeling is that this track could have been the outstanding gem of Parker playing in a big band setting were it not for one inexcusable "clam" that would have sent Buddy Rich on a spree with a butcher knife had he been conducting the band. It's in the last 10 seconds of the track; should be easy to hear. The perp, Danny Bank on baritone sax, was not slaughtered after the session, however, and went on to record an estimated 10,000 tracks in his distinguished career.
I Can't Get Started, Charlie Parker with Big Band (1952, originally issued on 78 rpm single as Mercury 11096-B), via YouTube, embedded for noncommercial critical discussion and educational purposes.
good music is good music, and that's good. It will make me look for more stuff from this part of his career, which I didn't know about.
ReplyDelete"Jazz purist"-- I know they exist but isn't that actually an oxymoron?
I appreciate the playing now I'm old and grey: As to the sound track of my life - it was Perry Como and "Oklahoma" on an electric turntable with no speakers, my ear inches away from the needle!
ReplyDeleteAnon: yeah, the term "jazz purist" makes about zero sense except to whistledick poseurs.
ReplyDeleteBarry: when I was young I was fascinated that you could hear music from the needle with the volume all the way down. It was never my preferred mode of delivery, though. I understand that your listening technology in postwar England was probably not a matter of choice for you, either. It must have been quite an experience for you to hear Como or Sinatra through a hi-fi for the first time. Then, somewhat later, Sergeant Pepper; I wonder what our ears would have made of that without hi-fi amplification....