Jazz at Massey Hall
Encyclopedia
Jazz at Massey Hall is a live jazz
album
featuring a performance by "The Quintet" given on 15 May 1953 at Massey Hall
in Toronto
. The quintet was composed of several leading 'modern' players of the day: Dizzy Gillespie
, Charlie Parker
, Bud Powell
, Charles Mingus
, and Max Roach
. It was the only time that the five men recorded together as a unit, and it was the last recorded meeting of Parker and Gillespie.
Parker played a Grafton saxophone
on this date; he could not be listed on the original album cover for contractual reasons, so was billed as "Charlie Chan" (an allusion to the fictional detective
and to Parker's wife Chan
). The record was originally issued on Mingus's label Debut
, from a recording made by the Toronto New Jazz Society (Dick Wattam, Alan Scharf, Roger Feather, Boyd Raeburn and Arthur Granatstein ). Mingus took the recording to New York where he and Max Roach dubbed in the bass lines, which were under-recorded on most of the tunes, and exchanged Mingus soloing on "All the Things You Are."
The original plan was for the Jazz Society and the musicians to share the profits from the recording. However, owing to a boxing prize fight between Rocky Marciano
and Jersey Joe Walcott
taking place simultaneouly, the audience was so small that the Society was unable to pay the musicians' fees. The musicians were all given NSF checks, and only Parker was able to actually cash his; Gillespie complained that he did not receive his fee "for years and years".
A 2004 re-issue contains the full concert, without the over-dubbing. The new version was titled Complete Jazz at Massey Hall.
Jazz at Massey Hall was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995. It is included in National Public Radio's "Basic Jazz Library". The concert was issued in some territories under the tag "the greatest jazz concert ever".
Vol. 1 (Debut DLP-2)
Vol. 3 (Debut DLP-4)
(Vol. 2 consists of the trio recordings of Powell, Mingus and Roach from the same date - all but "I've Got You Under My Skin", and one track by Billy Taylor with Mingus and Roach from a later date.)
(Issued as 12" LP:)
(Debut DEB-124)
(The 2004 reissue contains fourteen tracks, of which nos. 5 through 11 are without Parker and Gillespie:)
An album of a trio set played by Powell, Mingus and Roach at the concert was also issued (tracks 6 through 11 above).
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
featuring a performance by "The Quintet" given on 15 May 1953 at Massey Hall
Massey Hall
Massey Hall is a venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The theatre originally was designed to seat 3,500 patrons but, after extensive renovations in the 1940s, now seats up to 2,765....
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. The quintet was composed of several leading 'modern' players of the day: Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, Bud Powell
Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
, Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, and Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
. It was the only time that the five men recorded together as a unit, and it was the last recorded meeting of Parker and Gillespie.
Parker played a Grafton saxophone
Grafton saxophone
The Grafton saxophone was an injection moulded, cream-coloured acrylic plastic alto saxophone with metal keys, manufactured in London, England by the Grafton company, and later by 'John E. Dallas & Sons Ltd'. Only Grafton altos were ever made, due to the challenges in making larger models with...
on this date; he could not be listed on the original album cover for contractual reasons, so was billed as "Charlie Chan" (an allusion to the fictional detective
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
and to Parker's wife Chan
Chan Parker
Chan Woods , well known as Chan Parker, was a wife of jazz musician Charlie Parker and later musician Phil Woods....
). The record was originally issued on Mingus's label Debut
Debut Records
Debut Records was a United States jazz record label, which was founded in 1952 by bassist Charles Mingus, his then-wife Celia and drummer Max Roach.This short-lived label was an attempt to avoid the compromises of working for major companies...
, from a recording made by the Toronto New Jazz Society (Dick Wattam, Alan Scharf, Roger Feather, Boyd Raeburn and Arthur Granatstein ). Mingus took the recording to New York where he and Max Roach dubbed in the bass lines, which were under-recorded on most of the tunes, and exchanged Mingus soloing on "All the Things You Are."
The original plan was for the Jazz Society and the musicians to share the profits from the recording. However, owing to a boxing prize fight between Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano , born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was an American boxer and the heavyweight champion of the world from September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956. Marciano is the only champion to hold the heavyweight title and go undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times...
and Jersey Joe Walcott
Jersey Joe Walcott
Arnold Raymond Cream , better known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He broke the world's record for the oldest man to win the world's Heavyweight title when he earned it at the age of , a record that would be broken on November 5, 1994, by George Foreman, who...
taking place simultaneouly, the audience was so small that the Society was unable to pay the musicians' fees. The musicians were all given NSF checks, and only Parker was able to actually cash his; Gillespie complained that he did not receive his fee "for years and years".
A 2004 re-issue contains the full concert, without the over-dubbing. The new version was titled Complete Jazz at Massey Hall.
Jazz at Massey Hall was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995. It is included in National Public Radio's "Basic Jazz Library". The concert was issued in some territories under the tag "the greatest jazz concert ever".
Track listing
(Originally issued as two 10" LPs:)Vol. 1 (Debut DLP-2)
- "Perdido" (Juan TizolJuan TizolJuan Tizol was a Puerto Rican trombonist and composer.He was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Music was a large part of his life from an early age. His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to valve trombone, the instrument he would play throughout his career...
, Hans Lengfelder, Ervin M. Drake) - "Salt PeanutsSalt Peanuts"Salt Peanuts" is a bebop tune reportedly composed by Dizzy Gillespie in 1942, credited "with the collaboration of" bebop drummer Kenny Clarke...
" (Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny ClarkeKenny ClarkeKenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...
) - "All the Things You AreAll the Things You Are"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.It was written for the musical Very Warm for May , where it was introduced by Hiram Sherman, Frances Mercer, Hollace Shaw, and Ralph Stuart...
" (Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
) - "52nd Street52nd Street (Manhattan)52nd Street is a long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-Jazz center:The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue were renowned in the mid-20th century for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life...
Theme" (Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
)
Vol. 3 (Debut DLP-4)
- "Wee (Allen's Alley)" (Denzil BestDenzil BestDenzil DaCosta Best was an American jazz percussionist and composer born in New York City. He was a prominent bebop drummer in the 1950s and early '60s....
) - "Hot House" (Tadd DameronTadd DameronTadley Ewing Peake "Tadd" Dameron was an American jazz composer, arranger and pianist. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon called Dameron the "romanticist" of the bop movement, while reviewer Scott Yanow writes that Dameron was the "definitive arranger/composer of the bop era".-Biography:Born in Cleveland,...
) - "A Night in TunisiaA Night in Tunisia"A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by Dizzy Gillespie in 1942 while he was playing with the Earl Hines Band. It has become a jazz standard....
" (Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)
(Vol. 2 consists of the trio recordings of Powell, Mingus and Roach from the same date - all but "I've Got You Under My Skin", and one track by Billy Taylor with Mingus and Roach from a later date.)
(Issued as 12" LP:)
(Debut DEB-124)
- "Perdido" (Juan TizolJuan TizolJuan Tizol was a Puerto Rican trombonist and composer.He was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Music was a large part of his life from an early age. His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to valve trombone, the instrument he would play throughout his career...
, Hans Lengfelder, Ervin M. Drake) - "Salt PeanutsSalt Peanuts"Salt Peanuts" is a bebop tune reportedly composed by Dizzy Gillespie in 1942, credited "with the collaboration of" bebop drummer Kenny Clarke...
" (Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny ClarkeKenny ClarkeKenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...
) - "All the Things You AreAll the Things You Are"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.It was written for the musical Very Warm for May , where it was introduced by Hiram Sherman, Frances Mercer, Hollace Shaw, and Ralph Stuart...
" (Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
) - "52nd Street52nd Street (Manhattan)52nd Street is a long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-Jazz center:The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue were renowned in the mid-20th century for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life...
Theme" (Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
) - "Wee (Allen's Alley)" (Denzil BestDenzil BestDenzil DaCosta Best was an American jazz percussionist and composer born in New York City. He was a prominent bebop drummer in the 1950s and early '60s....
) - "Hot House" (Tadd DameronTadd DameronTadley Ewing Peake "Tadd" Dameron was an American jazz composer, arranger and pianist. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon called Dameron the "romanticist" of the bop movement, while reviewer Scott Yanow writes that Dameron was the "definitive arranger/composer of the bop era".-Biography:Born in Cleveland,...
) - "A Night in TunisiaA Night in Tunisia"A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by Dizzy Gillespie in 1942 while he was playing with the Earl Hines Band. It has become a jazz standard....
" (Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)
(The 2004 reissue contains fourteen tracks, of which nos. 5 through 11 are without Parker and Gillespie:)
- "Perdido" (Juan TizolJuan TizolJuan Tizol was a Puerto Rican trombonist and composer.He was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Music was a large part of his life from an early age. His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to valve trombone, the instrument he would play throughout his career...
, Hans Lengfelder, Ervin M. Drake) - "Salt PeanutsSalt Peanuts"Salt Peanuts" is a bebop tune reportedly composed by Dizzy Gillespie in 1942, credited "with the collaboration of" bebop drummer Kenny Clarke...
" (Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny ClarkeKenny ClarkeKenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...
) - "All the Things You AreAll the Things You Are"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.It was written for the musical Very Warm for May , where it was introduced by Hiram Sherman, Frances Mercer, Hollace Shaw, and Ralph Stuart...
" (Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
) - "52nd Street52nd Street (Manhattan)52nd Street is a long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-Jazz center:The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue were renowned in the mid-20th century for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life...
Theme" (Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
) - Drum Solo by Max RoachMax RoachMaxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
- "CherokeeCherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
" (Noble) - "Embraceable YouEmbraceable You"Embraceable You" is a popular song, with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was originally written in 1928 for an unpublished operetta named East is West. It was eventually published in 1930 and included in the Broadway musical Girl Crazy. where it was performed by...
" (George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Ira GershwinIra GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
) - "HallelujahHallelujah (song)"Hallelujah" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, originally released on his studio album Various Positions . Achieving little initial success, the song found greater popular acclaim through a cover by John Cale, which later formed the basis for a cover by Jeff Buckley...
(Jubilee)" (Grey, Robin, Youmans) - "Sure ThingSure thingSure thing or Sure Thing may refer to:* Certainty* A Sure Thing, a 1962 album by jazz trupeter Blue Mitchell* The Sure Thing, a romantic comedy directed by Rob Reiner* Sure Thing , a short play by David Ives...
" (Bud PowellBud PowellEarl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
) - "Lullaby of BirdlandLullaby of Birdland"Lullaby of Birdland" is a 1952 popular song with music by George Shearing and lyrics by George David Weiss under the pseudonym "B. Y. Forster" in order to circumvent the rule that ASCAP and BMI composers could not collaborate....
" (Shearing, Weiss) - "I've Got You Under My SkinI've Got You Under My Skin"I've Got You Under My Skin" is a song by Cole Porter.I've Got You Under My Skin may also refer to:* "I've Got You Under My Skin" , a 1998 episode of the television series Charmed...
" (Porter) - "Wee (Allen's Alley)" (Denzil BestDenzil BestDenzil DaCosta Best was an American jazz percussionist and composer born in New York City. He was a prominent bebop drummer in the 1950s and early '60s....
) - "Hot House" (Tadd DameronTadd DameronTadley Ewing Peake "Tadd" Dameron was an American jazz composer, arranger and pianist. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon called Dameron the "romanticist" of the bop movement, while reviewer Scott Yanow writes that Dameron was the "definitive arranger/composer of the bop era".-Biography:Born in Cleveland,...
) - "A Night in TunisiaA Night in Tunisia"A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by Dizzy Gillespie in 1942 while he was playing with the Earl Hines Band. It has become a jazz standard....
" (Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)
Personnel
- Dizzy GillespieDizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
— trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Charles MingusCharles MingusCharles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
— bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Charlie ParkerCharlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
— alto saxAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions... - Bud PowellBud PowellEarl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
— pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Max RoachMax RoachMaxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
— drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
An album of a trio set played by Powell, Mingus and Roach at the concert was also issued (tracks 6 through 11 above).
Sources
- Mark Miller. Cool Blues: Charlie Parker in Canada 1953. London, Ontario: Nightwood Editions, 1989.
- Richard Cook & Brian Morton. The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD 6th edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6
- Geoffrey Haydon "Quintet of the Year", Aurum Press, London, 2002.