[light] [dark]

Charlie Parker session details

[Return to 1940s sessions]

November 26, 1945 (16 items; TT = 34:52)
WOR Studio, New York NY
Commercial for Savoy

Charlie Parker (as); Miles Davis (tpt); J.B. "Dizzy" Gillespie (tpt, p); Sadik Hakim [Argonne Thornton] (p); Dillon "Curley" Russell (b); Max Roach (d)

1 Billie's Bounce (take 1) (C. Parker) 2:32

Listen for Gillespie's "Yeah!" at 1:11
2 Billie's Bounce (take 2 (inc)) (C. Parker) 1:42
3 Billie's Bounce (take 3) (C. Parker) 3:04
4 Warming Up a Riff (incomplete) [Cherokee] (D. Gillespie-C. Parker) 2:34

Parker warms up a new reed. Track begins midway through Parker's first chorus
5 Billie's Bounce (take 4 (inc)) (C. Parker) 1:37
6 Billie's Bounce (take 5 (master)) (C. Parker) 3:07
7 Now's the Time (take 1 (fs)) (C. Parker) 0:19
8 Now's the Time (take 2 (fs)) (C. Parker) 0:36
9 Now's the Time (take 3) (C. Parker) 3:06
10 Now's the Time (take 4 (master)) (C. Parker) 3:14
11 Anthropology (take 1) [Thriving on a Riff] (D. Gillespie-C. Parker) 2:58
12 Anthropology (take 2 (inc)) [Thriving on a Riff] (D. Gillespie-C. Parker) 0:22
13 Anthropology (take 3 (master)) [Thriving on a Riff] (D. Gillespie-C. Parker) 2:55
14 Meandering (incomplete) [Embraceable You] (C. Parker) 3:15

Another warm-up tune. Davis out
15 Ko Ko (take 1 (fs)) [Cherokee] (C. Parker) 0:38

Herman Lubinsky and Parker abruptly stop the take as Davis plays the "Cherokee" melody
16 Ko Ko (take 2 (master)) (C. Parker) 2:53


1 Billie's Bounce (take 1)
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, SJL-1107, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

2 Billie's Bounce (take 2 (inc))
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

3 Billie's Bounce (take 3)
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

4 Warming Up a Riff (incomplete)
78 rpm: Savoy 945
45 rpm: Savoy XP 8001, Savoy 45-302
10" LP: Savoy MG-9000, Craft Recordings 8807209696-7
12" LP: Savoy MG 12014, MG 12079, SJL 2201, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Philology Volume 43 (W 874), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

5 Billie's Bounce (take 4 (inc))
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

6 Billie's Bounce (take 5 (master))
78 rpm: Savoy 573, 918
45 rpm: Savoy XP 8000, Savoy 45-304
10" LP: Savoy MG-9001, Craft Recordings 8807209696-7
12" LP: Savoy MG 12009, MG 12079, SJL 2201, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

7 Now's the Time (take 1 (fs))
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

8 Now's the Time (take 2 (fs))
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

9 Now's the Time (take 3)
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, SJL-1107, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

10 Now's the Time (take 4 (master))
78 rpm: Savoy 573, 918
45 rpm: Savoy XP 8000, Savoy 45-300
10" LP: Savoy MG-9000, Craft Recordings 8807209696-7
12" LP: Savoy MG-12001, MG 12079, SJL 2201, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

11 Anthropology (take 1)
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, SJL-1107, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

12 Anthropology (take 2 (inc))
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

13 Anthropology (take 3 (master))
78 rpm: Savoy 945
45 rpm: Savoy XP 8006, Savoy 45-306
10" LP: Savoy MG-9001
12" LP: Savoy MG 12009, MG 12079, SJL 2201, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

14 Meandering (incomplete)
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, SJL 2201, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

15 Ko Ko (take 1 (fs))
12" LP: Savoy MG 12079, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Philology Volume 43 (W 874), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332

16 Ko Ko (take 2 (master))
78 rpm: Savoy 597, 916
45 rpm: Savoy XP 8001, XP 8097, Savoy 45-311
10" LP: Savoy MG-9000, MG 9034, Craft Recordings 8807209696-7
12" LP: Savoy MG 12014, MG 12079, SJL 2201, S5J-5500
CD: Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB-50400 (= COCB-53033, COCB-53436, COCB-53883, COCB-54230), Definitive DRCD 11148, Philology Volume 43 (W 874), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1332


At the time of this session Gillespie was under contract to Musicraft Records, so he is listed as "Hen Gates."

John Mehegan's "Special Notes and Commentary" to the original LP release (Savoy MG-12079) are the source of much confusion about this date. He claims, for example that Bud Powell is the pianist, when in fact Powell was states away recovering from a breakdown.

There has been a lot of debate about who plays the eight-measure trumpet solos at the beginning and end of "Ko Ko." Most of the critical weight seems to be in favor of its being Gillespie, who (unlike Davis) was familiar with the theme and the arrangement, and who repeats the solo almost verbatim when playing "Ko Ko" at Carnegie Hall in September 1947. The case for Gillespie is laid out in detail by Brian Harker in a 2021 essay, "Miles Davis, 'Ko Ko,' and the Making of a Fallacy" published in Jazz Perspectives (https://doi.org/10.1080/17494060.2021.1970611).

Tommaso Urbano has argued on the basis of the aural evidence that it is Davis, not Gillespie, playing trumpet on "Ko Ko." He also argues that, although Gillespie plays the piano introduction on take 1 of "Thriving on a Riff," it is Argonne Thornton on the second and third takes. See his excellent website, The Music of Miles.

Although Davis seems unsure of himself in places, his style and harmonic sense is already present -- listen especially to his playing on "Now's the Time" and "Thriving on a Riff."

Thanks to Tommaso Urbano for discussion of this session, and to Carl Woideck, who discussed the session and shared Brian Harker's essay with me.

All original content on this website is licensed by Peter Losin under a Creative Commons License