Session details: Royal Roost Club (February 26, 1949)

Charlie Parker session details

February 26, 1949 (17 items; TT = 29:28)

Royal Roost Club, New York NY

WMCA-AM radio broadcast (B+)

Show chatter

Charlie Parker (as); Kenny Dorham (tpt); Eli "Lucky" Thompson (ts); Milt Jackson (vb); Al Haig (p); Tommy Potter (b); Max Roach (d); Dave Lambert (voc); Buddy Stewart (voc); Miles Davis (tpt); Ted Kelly (tb); Sahib Shihab [Edmund Gregory] (as); Benjamin Lundy (ts); Cecil Payne (bs); Tadd Dameron (p); John Collins (g); Dillon "Curley" Russell (b); Kenny Clarke (d); Carlos Vidal (bgo); Symphony Sid Torin (ann)

1	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:09
	"And, ah, a thing that the Bird made not so long ago for the Savoy record company, one I hope you really enjoy, 'Half Nelson'..." Incomplete (0:08) on Savoy 17021/4 and Definitive
2	Half Nelson (M. Davis)	3:32
3	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:16
	"And there you are, the great Charlie Parker organization. Have you heard that Bop City is coming to New York? You haven't? Ha! Are you missing fun! But right now, ladies and gentlemen, here's Charlie Parker and the All-Stars once again, another one of the favorites, 'A Night in Tunisia'..." Incomplete (0:08) on Savoy 17021/4 and Definitive
4	A Night in Tunisia (D. Gillespie-F. Paparelli)	4:37
	The band seems not to know the arrangement. Parker plays some odd figures over the rhythm section until 0:20, when Jackson and Thompson join in
5	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:24
	"Thanks a lot Bird, and that's the way it is here at the Royal Roost... uh, where the lights are low and the music's a really crazy groove. Always good sounds as pure modern progressive jazz here at the Royal Roost. If you dig it, we invite you to come down here. If you haven't come down here, you haven't lived. And right now, another one of the favorites that everybody asks for all the time with the great Bird, it's 'Scrapple from the Apple'..."
6	Scrapple from the Apple (C. Parker)	4:40
7	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:26
	"And so there you go, 'Scrapple from the Apple', the great Bird, Charlie Parker and the All-Stars, everyone a great in his own. Charlie Parker on alto, Al Haig at the piano, Max Roach on drums, Tommy Potter on bass, Kenny Dorham on trumpet, and featuring Lucky Thompson on tenor and the great Milt Jackson on vibraharp. How 'bout it? (splice) ...recording of 'Deedle'"
8	Deedle (D. Lambert-B. Stewart)	2:05
	Parker plays a half-chorus solo (1:21-1:35), then obbligatos during the out chorus
9	Introduction (Dave Lambert)	0:16
	"Your announcer is David Ras-Lambert-Sputin, and now I will turn you over to Budward, who is going to give us a very beautiful old tune which I'm sure you'll all remember and enjoy, a little thing called 'Hurry Home'..."
10	Hurry Home (B. Bernier-R. Emmerich-J. Meyer)	2:36
11	Introduction (Buddy Stewart)	0:17
	"Thank you, thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, and now David and I would like to do a little thing that we had the pleasure of recording with Gene Krupa around 1944 or thereabouts. It's a little thing called 'What's This?'..."
12	What's This? (D. Lambert-B. Stewart)	1:35
13	Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (incomplete) (L. Young)	0:41
	Voiceover from 0:14: "How 'bout that, everything original at the Royal Roost. The bop group, Charlie Parker and the All-Stars, the wonderful Buddy Stewart and Davy Lambert, who've done bop vocals for many many years along with the Gene Krupa organization. And it's always original here at the Royal Roost, the Metropolitan Bopera House, the original house that bop built, on Broadway between 47th and 48th Street..." (cut off)
14	Milé [Milano] (T. Dameron)	3:41
15	Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:12
	"Thanks a lot, Tadd Dameron, that was really wonderful, a beautiful and relaxed thing called 'Milé'. That's the Spanish name Miles Davis, the great trumpet gentleman of all time..."
16	Casbah (J. Lewis)	3:40
17	Closing announcement (Symphony Sid Torin)	0:21
	"And so ladies and gentlemen, you've heard from the great Tadd Dameron organization, and right now we'd like to bring you the glamor of the... Royal Roost, and... (splice) we talk about a wonderful songstress, a girl who's done so very well with the great Boyd Raeburn organization, our Decca recording artist -- let's give her a wonderful hand -- Ginnie Powell, ladies and gentlemen..."


1 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) 12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
2 Half Nelson 12" LP: Savoy MG 12179, SJL 1108, SJL 1173, Audiofidelity AFE 3-7 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
3 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) 12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
4 A Night in Tunisia 12" LP: Savoy MG 12179, SJL 1108, SJL 1173, Audiofidelity AFE 3-7 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Philology Volume 57 (W 888), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
5 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) 12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
6 Scrapple from the Apple 12" LP: Savoy MG 12179, SJL 1108, SJL 1173, Audiofidelity AFE 3-7 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
7 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) 12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
8 Deedle 12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
9 Introduction (Dave Lambert) 12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
11 Introduction (Buddy Stewart) 12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
12 What's This? 12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443), Savoy SVY 17021/4, Definitive DRCD 11153, Frémeaux & Associés FA 1336
13 Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (incomplete) 12" LP: Savoy SJL 1173 CD: Savoy ZDS 4411/4, K30Y 6241/4, Nippon Columbia COCY 75791/8, COCB 50408 (= COCB 53443)
14 Milé 12" LP: Beppo BEP 503, Cicala BLJ 8032, Jung Cat RBD 948 CD: Fresh Sounds FSCD-1008, Philology Volume 20 (W 850), Definitive Records DRCD 11164, FAP 001/3
15 Introduction (Symphony Sid Torin) 12" LP: Beppo BEP 503, Cicala BLJ 8032, Jung Cat RBD 948 CD: Fresh Sounds FSCD-1008, Philology Volume 20 (W 850), Definitive Records DRCD 11164, FAP 001/3
16 Casbah 12" LP: Beppo BEP 503, Cicala BLJ 8032, Jung Cat RBD 948 CD: Fresh Sounds FSCD-1008, Philology Volume 20 (W 850), Definitive Records DRCD 11164, FAP 001/3
17 Closing announcement (Symphony Sid Torin) 12" LP: Beppo BEP 503, Cicala BLJ 8032, Jung Cat RBD 948 CD: Fresh Sounds FSCD-1008, Philology Volume 20 (W 850), Definitive Records DRCD 11164, FAP 001/3

Parker was joined by Tadd Dameron's Big Ten for a month-long engagement. Leonard Hawkins was on trumpet for the first week, but Miles Davis replaced him on subsequent broadcasts from the Roost (February 19 and 26, and March 5). Many of these fine recordings are collected on Philology Volume 20 (W 850).

The recent addition of Thompson and Jackson to the group may account for the raggedness of the ensembles on some of the numbers. In the notes to Savoy Jazz SVY-17021/4, Loren Schoenberg suggests that Miles Davis plays trumpet on "A Night in Tunisia." I'm skeptical. Despite the raggedness of the playing here, it sounds like Kenny Dorham to me; and given the recent blow-up between Davis and Parker, it seems unlikely that Parker would have invited Davis to play, or that Davis would have agreed to do so. In addition, this is surely the sort of thing Symphony Sid would have commented on; but there's no mention of it.