Diz ’n Bird at Carnegie Hall
September 29, 1947, saw the rare union of two jazz legends: pioneering bandleader and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and legendary saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker. Joined by renowned sidemen and soloists who included James Moody and Cecil Payne, the concert was officially billed as a performance by “Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra,” with Ella Fitzgerald name-checked as a soloist. (Although Fitzgerald did sing with Dizzy’s orchestra that night, she does not appear on the live recording released 50 years after the performance.)
This meeting of bebop giants took place at a very early stage in both of their Carnegie Hall careers: It was Bird’s second appearance at the Hall (he made 13 in all) and Dizzy’s headlining debut (he ultimately went on to perform at the Hall more than 50 times).
The concert and resulting album are best-known for the first five tracks, which feature Diz ’n Bird together with Joe Harris on drums, Al McKibbon on bass, and John Lewis on piano. One of the few live recordings of the two soloists together, the album is probably most notable for their interplay on Gillespie’s signature tune “A Night in Tunisia.” The duo also plays effortlessly with complex unisons and rapid and winding solos in “Groovin’ High.” The tone of the album takes a turn after the quintet’s set, with Gillespie’s orchestra bringing a big-band sound to his compositions, including “Cool Breeze” and “Salt Peanuts.” Gillespie’s interest in Afro-Cuban jazz is represented by the percussive “Cubano-Be, Cubano-Bop,” composed for the orchestra by George Russell.
While the big-band charts serve as a time capsule of live jazz in the 1940s, the quintet set is a unique opportunity to hear Gillespie and Parker in musical conversation. Unmatched performers and jazz innovators even in their own time, Diz ’n Bird continue to school listeners in what was—and is—possible in jazz.
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Photography: Gillespie and Parker on stage from the William P. Gottlieb Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress; all other images courtesy of the Carnegie Hall Rose Archives.