I just played along with the transcription and man, this thing is blazing..to freely come up with ideas and lines as concrete as these..thats what we all need to aspire to!
the secret is to speak through your instrument , express yourself ,like a speech and here we don't here a sax but someone speaking via a sax that's we so easily relate to it , wonderful
I just found this video again and man, this solo is timeless. Every single second is full of some the most beautiful music created in the history of mankind. It has the genius and beauty of the best classical compositions from Baroque to 20th Century periods, fused with the earthy soul and spontaneity of Jazz! Just listen to those 2-5-1 arpeggios where he switches from major to relative minor every beat by moving the 7down to the 6th chord and up again! It's a piece of heaven...
There is so much in this. This guy is sensitive to the promptings of his unconscious. He is a true 20th century genius! He experimented a lot with this tune. It is one of the starting points of "bebob" - one of the grestest achievements of the 20th century (I'm a bebop fan)
This record is an interesting one. It's not yet the combustive nuance Bird had later in his playing, but more of a spontaneous searching. It reminds me of Louis Armstrong for its cerebral majesty; it also suggests the 'probing approach' Coltrane later had. I agree with taylorfusion below: he's shopping for the spices, meats, and cognac that made bop. But there's something godly about it like Satch, Trane, Miles, Brecker, and so many more.
Truly a remarkable recording! Even more so that this was approx 2 years before the start of the acknowledged era of bebop. I love this transition from swing to bop. WOW ALL the vocabulary evident in bebop is already here! Alt dom lines, note enclosures, pickup triplets, attitude, angular swing and supreme melodic invention over a challenging harmonic tune at a brisk tempo. Like Bird just said the first and last word on bebop! He's 22 and he's only been playing for 7 years!
I've reached page four of the transcription. On page 5, I can hit the high F# after the triplet thing, but It's hard to feel comfortable when coming back to the E and then playing the lower notes...
I Love this version of " Cherokee" almost More than the justifiably acclaimed "KOKO" that came a couple of years later.... Some of the same ideas emerge in both....
wow, never heard this recording before, you can still hear elements of swing style and approach in his playing mixed with his own be-bop based ideas. this is a real gem...
This is amazing! I love this guy! I've been playing mandolin for bout 2 years now, And its my goal to learn this by August 8th! And I'm gonna do it! I'm pretty good so far!
@urbananairapist Ok..... I'm convinced , mystery solved sorry I caused so much controversy ....Love Charlie Parker ...and either way the video sounds great !
@ Brian4hand ... " Smooth Fool " ...hahaha .. I like it I'm going to compose a tune called " Smooth Fool ' thats funny ..But your right ..I don't have proof its not Charlie Parker ..I am not a Musicologist . So I could be wrong . But if you do a search for Peter King ..his videos are an example of what I'm talking about there are people that dedicate their whole lives to mimiking Bird . I will be sure not to make rash comments based on gut feelings . 1000 pardons .
The story, AFAIK, goes like this: somebody uncovered an old acetate recording, somewhere at sometime, with this and other tracks that Parker supposedly played on in 1943. The guys shows it to a record shop owner, and the ownere immediately recognizes that these are long-lost recordings of an young Parker playing. He was thus willing to pay anything to claim them.
While we may never be 100% sure about the veracity of the records, we do know that the record-shop owner paid a significant sum for them because he was certain that they were genuine. So perhaps we can recognize the expertise of the record shop owner here.
And though there have been saxophonists like Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley who copied many of Bird's sound and licks, they could never mimick the same sound and soul displayed in the playing here, IMO. For me, this is indeed Bird.
i was referring back to your comment on how bebop seemed to come "out of nowhere" because of the recording ban that was taking place in the industry when Bird, Diz, Monk, and Clarke were experimenting with it's early stages in Minton's.
I'm just saying that Charlie Parker had been playing "Out of Nowhere" for several years before "Storyville" came out. So he didn't make it famous then - he had already made it famous long before.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
This sounds fake as hell ...some clone player trying to pretend there was some lost recordings ....a real jazz musician can hear it you all need to quit !!!!! Charlie was much better and more spontaneous and soulfull only a fool would believe this was bird ..its disrespectfull .
@1SavoirFaire1 You sound like a smooth fool right now. At this point in time, I HIGHLY doubt that anyone would be able to copycat Bird on this level. Besides, use your ears.
O my god I happened to download this exact solo of the internet a few weeks ago. what a coincidence I should find it here. Bird=idol. If you type "the jazz education database charlie parker cherokee" in google you'll find it
Really cool early style. Much longer than many of the later solos, which is fine by me! Cool to hear Bird touching the altissimo, too. Not too common, I don't think.
@thejazzman8 Google "1942 recording ban" to find the Wiki page on the '42-'44 Musician's Strike. All AFM members were banned from recording commercially. So in other words, this recording was never released for sale back in the 1940s, and was only released when it was rediscovered later on. That explains the "homemade" sound quality of the recording and the small band accompaniment, and it also explains why the Bebop Era seemed to come out of nowhere after 1944.
Do you mean "Charlie Parker at Storyville", was recorded in 1953? Bird had already recorded "Out of Nowhere" in-studio with Dial back in 1947 (2 of the takes are available here on youtube - look them up), and he had already played the tune countless times live in other venues before 1953. So I'm not sure what you mean by "made that tune famous" in this context.
man, I've been looking for this exact recording so long, No personal story needed. Which recording, sir? Charlie backed up by gypsy jazz swing guitars! hook a brother up :)
The manager of Shelly's Manne Hole in '63 told us teens there one night the wierd thing about Charlie Parker was that nobody else was playing like he was way back when all the big bands were popular. JckDupp's post of this track prooves it. How splendid! Bird was like a teacher to the entire country on how modern music should, or would, be sounding. Brandrord M. I suppose now heads the roost?
Beautiful! This number and three others from the same session can be heard on the Stash CD The Complete Birth of the Bebop, and also on the 4-CD set Charlie Parker: Bird In Time 1940-1947.
as an acoustic guitarist myself, I quite enjoy the accompaniment. It helps bird's crack at it stand out more, without crazy kick drum hits all over the place, and helps the listener pick up on where bird leaves the harmony and where he picks it back up.
I believe this is the tune on which Bird discovered how he could just literally fly over the chords and resolve each idea on a melodic note. Well on this solo he sure is flying.
I just played along with the transcription and man, this thing is blazing..to freely come up with ideas and lines as concrete as these..thats what we all need to aspire to!
Brian4hand 2 days ago
Wow! I think i'm going to transcribe this
RabbitIon 1 week ago
the secret is to speak through your instrument , express yourself ,like a speech and here we don't here a sax but someone speaking via a sax that's we so easily relate to it , wonderful
blokflotnbrass 2 months ago
acoustic guitar is a nice touche to
ellojellofly 3 months ago
i really love this song :)
ellojellofly 3 months ago
Clean... cool. I can follow the story.
khaosx12 3 months ago
I just found this video again and man, this solo is timeless. Every single second is full of some the most beautiful music created in the history of mankind. It has the genius and beauty of the best classical compositions from Baroque to 20th Century periods, fused with the earthy soul and spontaneity of Jazz! Just listen to those 2-5-1 arpeggios where he switches from major to relative minor every beat by moving the 7down to the 6th chord and up again! It's a piece of heaven...
frenchpro16 4 months ago
There is so much in this. This guy is sensitive to the promptings of his unconscious. He is a true 20th century genius! He experimented a lot with this tune. It is one of the starting points of "bebob" - one of the grestest achievements of the 20th century (I'm a bebop fan)
rasmustin 4 months ago
man, this song really percolates!
mitchellglaser 4 months ago
Jesus... THIS makes me want to play Cherokee at this tempo (and no faster)! Swingin' Perfection!
saxoman1 4 months ago
Perfect soloing...without 4 years of a schooling at a famous music University!
jevonj77 5 months ago
@jevonj77 and with 4 years of 15-hour practice days. charlie parker is BEAST.
therunningpiano 2 months ago
today I fell in love with Jazz!!!
quimusmary 5 months ago 10
Sublime!!!
kingpleasure 5 months ago
This record is an interesting one. It's not yet the combustive nuance Bird had later in his playing, but more of a spontaneous searching. It reminds me of Louis Armstrong for its cerebral majesty; it also suggests the 'probing approach' Coltrane later had. I agree with taylorfusion below: he's shopping for the spices, meats, and cognac that made bop. But there's something godly about it like Satch, Trane, Miles, Brecker, and so many more.
jakeypitkinSax 6 months ago 2
Truly a remarkable recording! Even more so that this was approx 2 years before the start of the acknowledged era of bebop. I love this transition from swing to bop. WOW ALL the vocabulary evident in bebop is already here! Alt dom lines, note enclosures, pickup triplets, attitude, angular swing and supreme melodic invention over a challenging harmonic tune at a brisk tempo. Like Bird just said the first and last word on bebop! He's 22 and he's only been playing for 7 years!
taylorfusion 6 months ago
I've reached page four of the transcription. On page 5, I can hit the high F# after the triplet thing, but It's hard to feel comfortable when coming back to the E and then playing the lower notes...
GimmeLife 6 months ago
@GimmeLife How are you playing the F# to the E? Are you using the palm keys or using combinations with the high "G" key?
Bebopopotamus 5 months ago
So, my high school's fight song is a spin off of this... XD
TheRew400 6 months ago 2
well today is going to be my first day sheding on this solo. whish me luck
kello224 7 months ago 3
@kello224 lurn tu spel ferst.
renoraider2 6 months ago
@kello224 I believe in you! Good luck! Happy shedding!
tjc197 6 months ago
Unf!!!
flatrounds 7 months ago 2
Genius.
blackricanprinces 7 months ago
I Love this version of " Cherokee" almost More than the justifiably acclaimed "KOKO" that came a couple of years later.... Some of the same ideas emerge in both....
worsley1000 7 months ago
wow, never heard this recording before, you can still hear elements of swing style and approach in his playing mixed with his own be-bop based ideas. this is a real gem...
phourtay 7 months ago 2
just perfect!!!
Emgune 7 months ago
The full transcription for this Charlie Parker solo can be found in a note-perfect
downloadable PDF, by typing "Charlie Parker - The Jazz Education Database",
into a Google search. Click on the listing at the top of the page results.
Props go out to frenchpro 16 for passing this along to us, in one of the early comments.
JckDupp 7 months ago 15
I've been trying to transcribe this for three months and don't even have the first 30 seconds down !!
GimmeLife 7 months ago
This is amazing! I love this guy! I've been playing mandolin for bout 2 years now, And its my goal to learn this by August 8th! And I'm gonna do it! I'm pretty good so far!
pigsbananaspigs 8 months ago
@pigsbananaspigs im transcribing this too.... so many killing 2-5s in this
zbalder14 8 months ago
Found my next transcription haha
BrannenSaxGuy 8 months ago
this is such an ear orgasm
chrispotterfan 8 months ago
you can hear alot of Prez's influence in his playing here! killllllin
OjAiSaXpLaYeR 10 months ago
I dislike this because I probably won't get to listen to him in person.
GimmeLife 10 months ago
@GimmeLife: Yea, I'd say you missed him by at least a couple of years, Gimme, but at least we still have the records--enjoy!
aarfeld 10 months ago
Tantalizing hints to come with Bird's masterpiece KoKo...
radicalgnostic9 10 months ago
it's such a long recording too which is soo cool...
Icopper 10 months ago
Geez, just an endless fountain of ideas. Never gets old. Love his solo on this tune!!!!
brunostung 10 months ago
Four years after that, Cherokee became Koko, though one might recognize here some of Bird's later gimmicks !
WAMEDJO 1 year ago
1:32 is Bird
societyforrealmusic 1 year ago
Bird is The Man in music! Forever!!! Beautiful.
TheAltoman 1 year ago
Anyone notice some of the riffs he uses in this recording are just simpler versions of very famous Parker licks from Ko-Ko?
This was a treat to listen to. Thanks for sharing.
frgo 1 year ago
@frgo
Ko-Ko is cherokee like Ornithology is How High the Moon. you hear 1:36 too?
TheJazzsaxophone 1 year ago
Comment removed
societyforrealmusic 1 year ago
Wasn't this the recording that made this into an improv song? I find the guitar as a nice touch.
Morahman7vnNo2 1 year ago
It has this wonderful 20s-30s feel to it....what a find!
terrryc 1 year ago
Popey expectacular!!
choperudo 1 year ago
@urbananairapist Ok..... I'm convinced , mystery solved sorry I caused so much controversy ....Love Charlie Parker ...and either way the video sounds great !
1SavoirFaire1 1 year ago
@ Brian4hand ... " Smooth Fool " ...hahaha .. I like it I'm going to compose a tune called " Smooth Fool ' thats funny ..But your right ..I don't have proof its not Charlie Parker ..I am not a Musicologist . So I could be wrong . But if you do a search for Peter King ..his videos are an example of what I'm talking about there are people that dedicate their whole lives to mimiking Bird . I will be sure not to make rash comments based on gut feelings . 1000 pardons .
1SavoirFaire1 1 year ago
@1SavoirFaire1
The story, AFAIK, goes like this: somebody uncovered an old acetate recording, somewhere at sometime, with this and other tracks that Parker supposedly played on in 1943. The guys shows it to a record shop owner, and the ownere immediately recognizes that these are long-lost recordings of an young Parker playing. He was thus willing to pay anything to claim them.
urbananalrapist 1 year ago
While we may never be 100% sure about the veracity of the records, we do know that the record-shop owner paid a significant sum for them because he was certain that they were genuine. So perhaps we can recognize the expertise of the record shop owner here.
And though there have been saxophonists like Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley who copied many of Bird's sound and licks, they could never mimick the same sound and soul displayed in the playing here, IMO. For me, this is indeed Bird.
urbananalrapist 1 year ago
i was referring back to your comment on how bebop seemed to come "out of nowhere" because of the recording ban that was taking place in the industry when Bird, Diz, Monk, and Clarke were experimenting with it's early stages in Minton's.
1979saxman 1 year ago
@1979saxman
I'm just saying that Charlie Parker had been playing "Out of Nowhere" for several years before "Storyville" came out. So he didn't make it famous then - he had already made it famous long before.
urbananalrapist 1 year ago
this is bird, he was developing his style, still playing a lot of swing licks.
gwgatling 1 year ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This sounds fake as hell ...some clone player trying to pretend there was some lost recordings ....a real jazz musician can hear it you all need to quit !!!!! Charlie was much better and more spontaneous and soulfull only a fool would believe this was bird ..its disrespectfull .
1SavoirFaire1 1 year ago
@1SavoirFaire1 You sound like a smooth fool right now. At this point in time, I HIGHLY doubt that anyone would be able to copycat Bird on this level. Besides, use your ears.
Brian4hand 1 year ago
who would have the nerve to dislike this?
xmrbadonkadonkx 1 year ago
O my god I happened to download this exact solo of the internet a few weeks ago. what a coincidence I should find it here. Bird=idol. If you type "the jazz education database charlie parker cherokee" in google you'll find it
frenchpro16 1 year ago
Ugh, too bad this isn't included in the Omnibook, this solo is perrrrrrrfect. :(
JohnSawyerFiddle 1 year ago
@JohnSawyerFiddle Transcribe it by yourself !!
michelkroll 1 year ago
Really cool early style. Much longer than many of the later solos, which is fine by me! Cool to hear Bird touching the altissimo, too. Not too common, I don't think.
altosax314 1 year ago
Dardanella at 2:06!
EggSaladRecipe 1 year ago 2
that tune at :45 is sailors hornpipe
sherlockvenuti 1 year ago 2
What an absolute perfection...
Only can imagine how they're jamming up there, bird, diz, monk and trane too, and all of them!...
81gianc 1 year ago
@81gianc What, where? Repeating stupid mythology again?
briancolejennifer 1 year ago
Great cover of Cherokee!!! The funny thing is that I prefer it to Bird's rewrite as Ko-Ko.
AllBobsAllTheTime 1 year ago
I must have listened to this 15 times in the last several days. I keep hearing something new every time. Absolutely amazing. Thanks for posting.
dtbebout 1 year ago 2
so rhythmically, melodically and harmonically sound. and the amount of personality and soul in Bird's playing is just phenomenal!!
joebandana 1 year ago
probably one of Bird's top best solo, which means a 20th century musical masterpiece...
remixmonkix 1 year ago
love the bounce.
ezekielvictor 1 year ago
Dig that Popeye riff !!!!!
SRVMOE 1 year ago
it's all there....unmistakable.
SALLEMJAZZ 1 year ago
my question is why is this done in 1943 and the guitar seems to be an acoustic
thejazzman8 1 year ago
@thejazzman8 Google "1942 recording ban" to find the Wiki page on the '42-'44 Musician's Strike. All AFM members were banned from recording commercially. So in other words, this recording was never released for sale back in the 1940s, and was only released when it was rediscovered later on. That explains the "homemade" sound quality of the recording and the small band accompaniment, and it also explains why the Bebop Era seemed to come out of nowhere after 1944.
urbananalrapist 1 year ago
@urbananalrapist "Out of Nowhere".....Do you think Bird was thinking the same thing with when he made that tune famous from his "Storyville" album?
1979saxman 1 year ago
@1979saxman
Do you mean "Charlie Parker at Storyville", was recorded in 1953? Bird had already recorded "Out of Nowhere" in-studio with Dial back in 1947 (2 of the takes are available here on youtube - look them up), and he had already played the tune countless times live in other venues before 1953. So I'm not sure what you mean by "made that tune famous" in this context.
urbananalrapist 1 year ago
How about that pirate melody at 0:45?
codyr222 1 year ago 49
@codyr222 It is Popeye the sailman
gtrieste2 1 year ago
@codyr222 it's 'popeye' isn't it?
Zaul2410 1 year ago
@codyr222
Called the "Sailor's Hornpipe".
Parker is brilliant as usual.
saxismyaxe 1 year ago
@codyr222 braccio di ferro!!! :)
filerouge 1 year ago
Comment removed
Morahman7vnNo2 1 year ago
@codyr222
it's no pirate melody its 'Popeye the Sailor' !!!
chrispotterfan 9 months ago 2
@chrispotterfan sailors hornpipe, what a quote!
alexhunterjazz 7 months ago
theres a few more in there as well, shoeshine boy and how high the moon!
alexhunterjazz 7 months ago
Great earlier recording of Mr. Parker, and in Kansas City no less. You can hear more of Prez in his style with this one. What a find!
saxismyaxe 1 year ago
Thank you for posting this. Bird is the word, baby.
saxforth 1 year ago
Really well done solo.
theinvisiblelight 1 year ago
man, I've been looking for this exact recording so long, No personal story needed. Which recording, sir? Charlie backed up by gypsy jazz swing guitars! hook a brother up :)
paulomac 1 year ago
UNICO e INIMITABILE
81gianc 1 year ago
GREAT GUITAR COMPING!!
insubria24 1 year ago 3
GREAT !!!
profeso07 1 year ago
This is pure génius.
dormouse72 1 year ago 2
This was a big hit for Charlie Barnet back those days. Next to Parker Barnet appears like a botcher.
Fitzliputzli23 1 year ago
The manager of Shelly's Manne Hole in '63 told us teens there one night the wierd thing about Charlie Parker was that nobody else was playing like he was way back when all the big bands were popular. JckDupp's post of this track prooves it. How splendid! Bird was like a teacher to the entire country on how modern music should, or would, be sounding. Brandrord M. I suppose now heads the roost?
pvelectric 1 year ago
Love hearing the simple opening to see where he goes.
paulgif49 1 year ago
His articulations are amazing!
hitzville81 1 year ago
Wow. It's weird, to hear bird playing like this. But i like it
theinvisiblelight 1 year ago
Fantastic! Reminds me of the Coleman Hawkins / Django Reinhardt collaboration.. Compare this to Bird's Lady Be Good from 1940
mtibberon 1 year ago
Absolutely majestic! It doesn't get much better at this!
Achilles1910 1 year ago 2
this solo is perfect!
wiliscool 1 year ago 29
the only and the best alto solo!
einupasivaiksciot 2 years ago 2
This is soooooo great. All there
sheskimusic 2 years ago 3
Beautiful! This number and three others from the same session can be heard on the Stash CD The Complete Birth of the Bebop, and also on the 4-CD set Charlie Parker: Bird In Time 1940-1947.
lupine22 2 years ago 4
Playing cherokee inspired Bird to come up with "Warming Up a Riff" among other tunes.
That swing guitar has got to go!
Good sound recording - too bad Bud Powell was inaudible in most Bird recordings.
Bird was what, 23 at this time? Prez was still at the top of his form. And this was during the Union recording ban.
Great find!
AMMO
ammofuzztone 2 years ago 3
as an acoustic guitarist myself, I quite enjoy the accompaniment. It helps bird's crack at it stand out more, without crazy kick drum hits all over the place, and helps the listener pick up on where bird leaves the harmony and where he picks it back up.
to each their own though, claro.
walterm85 2 years ago
yeh this is amazing having these records available for everyone...that's what I call power of jazz...
Livender 2 years ago 6
@ammofuzztone Warming Up A Riff but also Ko Ko ;)
Dedalusalley 1 year ago
I believe this is the tune on which Bird discovered how he could just literally fly over the chords and resolve each idea on a melodic note. Well on this solo he sure is flying.
vickyjs09 2 years ago 7