Charlie Parker Exhibit
When Billie Holiday signed a new recording contract with Decca Records in 1944, she told producer Milt Gabler that she wanted to record with a string section. Anxious to establish Holiday as a pop singer, Gabler hired arranger Salvador ‘Tutti’ Camarata and six string players for her first session. The first song recorded was Lover Man, which became one of her biggest hits. Several years later, when Charlie Parker signed with impresario/manager Norman Granz’ label Clef, he asked to record with strings as well. Parker’s interest in recording with strings dated back to 1941. Furthermore, in an interview with Nat Hentoff, Parker said of his interest in classical music:
“I first began listening seven or eight years ago. First I heard Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird Suite.’ In the vernacular of the streets, I flipped. I guess Bartók has become my favorite. I dig all the moderns. And also the classical men, Bach, Beethoven, etc. It’s a funny thing, listening to music, any kind, What you hear depends on so many things in yourself. Like I heard Bartók’s ‘Second Piano Concerto’ over here and later, I heard it again in France. I was more acclimated to life then, and I heard things in it I never heard before. You never know what’s going to happen when you listen to music. All kinds of things can suddenly open up.”
In an effort to keep costs reasonable, Granz hired only five string players for the first session in 1949 (3 violins, viola, and cello). However, the players he hired were the top New York session players; some of whom were members of the NBC symphony under the direction of Arturo Toscanini. As much as he’d dreamed of playing with strings, reportedly Parker walked out of at least one rehearsal without playing a note. He later explained that the sound of the strings and the thought of working with such distinguished musicians gave him pause; afterall, these were players that had graduated from top music schools and were in the middle of distinguished careers in classical music, which, at the time, was considered a more serious art form. What took place after the initial jitters had subsided was sheer magic.
The parts for the string players were relatively easy, so they had the opportunity to listen and enjoy Parker’s inspired improvisations. The arrangements for the first studio session (November 30, 1949) were crafted by veteran commercial composer, arranger, and woodwind player Jimmy Carroll (Caruana), himself a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. Jimmy Carroll, along with Mitch Miller (woodwind player on the Charlie Parker with Strings recording sessions) and Alec Wilder, attended Eastman at the same time. Originally a clarinetist, Carroll, along with Mitch Miller, was part of the very influential Alec Wilder Octet (no doubt Parker knew these recordings). It is quite possible that it was Mitch Miller who suggested to Granz that Carroll be the arranger for the first Charlie Parker wth Strings recording session. In 1949 Miller was A&R chief of Mercury Records who also distributed Granz’s Clef label. In later years, Carroll and Miller often worked together when Miller took over as A&R for popular recordings at Columbia Records and Little Golden Records. Carroll was also chief arranger for Miller’s television program based on his popular albums, Sing Along with Mitch.
The initial 1950 Mercury release was packaged as a three-album set and included the songs: Just Friends, Everything Happens to Me, April in Paris, If I Should Lose You, Summertime, and I Didn’t Know What Time It Was. The release was met with positive reviews and commercial success; Just Friends became Parker’s bestselling single. Based on the success of the first release, Granz quickly setup another recording session, this time with another veteran arranger of the New York scene, Joe Lipman. Lipman, having started his career at age 19 as a pianist with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, arranged and conducted the second Charlie Parker with Strings recording session on July 5, 1950. This date featured a slightly larger ensemble including: oboe, French horn, 4 violins, 2 violas, cello, and harp along with guitar, piano, bass, and drums.
Parker, from his interview with Nat Hentoff, reflected on these recordings: “When I recorded with strings some of my friends said, ‘Oh, Bird is getting commercial.’ That wasn’t it at all. I was looking for new ways of saying things musically. New sound combinations. Why, I asked for strings as far as 1941 and then years later, when I went with Norman [Granz], he OK’d it. I like Joe Lipman’s fine arrangements on the second session and I think they didn’t turn out too badly. Now, I’d like to do a session with five or six woodwinds, a harp, a choral group and full rhythm section. Something on the line of Hindemith’s ‘Kleine Kammermusik.’ Not a copy or anything like that. I don’t want ever to copy, but that sort of thing.” Ultimately, Parker did wind up recording such a session in 1953 with arrangements provided by Gil Evans.
Charlier Parker also appeared with his string ensemble on at least six live occasions: Birdland (August, 1950 and March and April, 1951), Apollo Theater (August, 1950), Carnegie Hall (September, 1950), and Rockland Palace Dance Hall (September, 1952). The more recent discovery of the Bird with Strings original scores and parts has allowed historians to study the many arrangements written for Parker, whether for recording dates or live performances. It is natural that this library would contain arrangements and compositions that were never recorded and may not have been played publicly by Parker. Since Parker was touring with his string ensemble, he needed a full library of music from which to choose material for performances. Included in his ‘with strings’ library were some interesting surprises such as arrangements of Ezz-Thetic by George Russell, Moon Mist by Mercer Ellington, and Yardbird Suite by Gerry Mulligan (left unfinished as Mulligan left New York bound for Hollywood). Also found were additional arrangements by Jimmy Carroll including Stardust and They Didn’t Believe Me, neither of which were officially recorded.
In 1952 Parker recorded an additional four Joe Lipman arrangements featuring a full big band with a string section (Temptation, Lover, Stella By Starlight, and Autumn in New York). Autumn in New York, however, was ghosted by another unknown arranger, possibly Abe ‘Glenn’ Osser. This is now documented as the handwriting in the score does not match that of Joe Lipman’s. Examining the scores and parts gives us a window into the recording sessions. It is clear that Jimmy
Carroll did not realize that Norman Granz intended to use the Jazz at the Philharmonic ‘house rhythm section’ (Ray Brown, bass, and Buddy Rich, drums) for the for the 1949 session. Drummer Buddy Rich could not read music and did not play any additional percussion instruments, yet several of the arrangements called for the drummer to double on vibraphone. Or, equally possible, is that Carroll was not aware of Rich’s music reading limitations. In addition, a couple of Carroll’s scores call for celeste, which is inaudible on the recording. It is likely that Reeves Recording, the studio where the 1949 session was recorded, did not have a celeste available in the studio. Hank Jones, who was Granz’s pianist at the time, was replaced by studio regular Stan Freeman. Also, even though Carroll included guitar parts in his arrangements (and these copied parts still exist in the library), no guitarist played on the session.
Charlie Parker would later say that the studio recordings with his string ensemble were his favorites of his own work. The albums sold well and brought Parker to a whole new audience. As far as his own playing, many of his solos were inspired and ground-breaking. Just Friends, for example, is one of Parker’s finest recordings and his solo is remarkable.
Parker, on the verge of his 1950 Carnegie Hall performance said this regarding his new trend in strings, “Any evolution of jazz is basically the evolution of a folk idiom. Restricting it to the rarified, hopeless air of purely the avant-garde movement is like attempting to grow a tree on a widow sill.”
— Rob & Doug DuBoff, Ejazzlines Publications,
Saratoga, New York
