Bird quotes Satchmo

When Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie burst into the jazz scene in the mid-1940s, much was made of the presumed animosity between the new and the older generations of musicians. Although there were some noises in that direction, let's just say that jazz journalism paid too much attention to celebrity status, fans and gossip.

Back in 1928, Louis Armstrong recorded this classic cadenza as the opening for his "West End Blues":

Charlie Parker must have been listening, since he used it twenty years after Armstrong, at least twice on record, both times while playing the blues, one at Carnegie Hall on Christmas day, 1949:

the other at St. Nicholas Arena in New York (St. Nick's), a couple of months later:

PS 2022-03-25: And a third one, on May 30, 1953, at Birdland with Bud Powell on piano and Charles Mingus on bass.

The "complete" John Coltrane on Spotify

Today it's the 45th anniversary of John Coltrane's passing. To commemorate this extraordinary musician, over the last few weeks I've been compiling a playlist of his recordings, both as leader and sideman, in chronological order, as available on Spotify. It comprises more than 800 tracks, or four days of straight listening.

Unheard Tal Farlow, Eddie Costa, Marian McPartland...

... at least unheard by me. Via Marian McPartland's Facebook page, I just bumped into this radio broadcast presented by NBC in association with the AFM "as a contribution to the US savings bonds division of the Treasury department"—which could hardly be more relevant at the moment 55 years later—from The Composer, a club where, in the Summer of 1956, the bill was shared by two trios, Tal Farlow's and Marian McPartland's. The relief pianist was John Mehegan.

Personally I'm gobsmacked because Farlow's trio with Eddie Costa and Vinnie Burke, the line-up here, was an extraordinary but very short-lived group, and while I knew about this gig, I didn't know it had been recorded and preserved. McPartland's trio has Bill Britto on bass and the great Joe Morello on drums.

I can't really say nothing else right now, so I'll leave you with the music. You can listen on the player below, or go to the site where I found it, Past Daily. The details are as follows:

July 23, 1956.* The Composer, New York. 

Tal Farlow Trio: Farlow (g), Eddie Costa (p), Vinnie Burke (b).

 0:00 They can't take that away from me
 5:34 You don't know what love is 
10:02 And she remembers me 

Marian McPartland Trio: McPartland (p), Bill Britto (b), Joe Morello (d).

15:28 Falling in love with love 
19:20 For all we know
23:54 Bohemia After Dark

* It's possible that this was broadcast on this date, but recorded previously. The MC mention that the music was "transcribed" (recorded for later broadcast), and according to the New Yorker magazine, Farlow's last day at the Composer was July 18th.