These recordings were made by Charles Mingus. The concert was opened by a sixteen-piece
band led by Graham Topping. The Parker-Gillespie Quintet then played the first set
before an intermission. During the intermission the band watched Rocky Marciano
knock out Jersey Joe Walcott in the first round of their heavyweight match. The
second set began with only Roach on stage for a solo ("Drum Conversation"). Powell,
Mingus, and Roach then performed several trio numbers -- "Cherokee," "Embraceable
You," "Jubilee," "Sure Thing," "Bass-ically Speaking," "Lullaby of Birdland," and
"I've Got You Under My Skin" (all issued on The Complete Debut Recordings of
Charles Mingus, Fantasy 12DCD-4402). Parker wandered in during this set and joined
the band for the remaining titles. The Topping band returned for a few numbers
and the Quintet joined them for a closing jam on an unknown blues.
In his book Cool Blues: Charlie Parker in Canada 1953 (Nightwood, 1990),
Mark Miller suggests that the concert progressed as follows:
First set
Topping Big Band: "The Goof and I," "Why Do I Love You?", "All the Things You Are,"
"Harvard Blues," "Mambo," "Beaver Junction," "The Nearness of You," "Fugue for Reeds
and Brass," "What's Shmoo?", "Elevation."
Parker-Gillespie Quintet: "Perdido,"
"Salt Peanuts," "All the Things You Are," "52nd Street Theme."
Second set
Roach solo: "Drum Conversation"
Powell, Mingus, Roach: "Cherokee," "Embraceable You," "Jubilee," "Sure Thing,"
"Bass-ically Speaking," "Lullaby of Birdland," "I've Got You Under My Skin"
Parker-Gillespie Quintet: "Wee," "Hot House," "A Night in Tunisia"
Topping Big Band: "Lover Come Back to Me," "Just Where You Are," Mambo Macocoa"
All together: unknown blues ("Tiny's Blues"?)
My listing above owes a lot to discussions with John Griffin, who was kind to send
me several reviews and accounts of this concert.
Several titles were originally issued (e.g. Debut LP 124) with bass overdubs; these
titles appear both with and without the overdubs on Fantasy 12DCD-4402. The CD equivalents
of the original Debut LP typically include Mingus's overdubs.
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