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I love what I've heard of Carla Bley's christmas album, playful and beautiful like her usual great music.
He played it spontaneously, at a customer’s request, on Christmas Day, 1948, at the Royal Roost in New York City—with Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Max Roach on drums, Al Haig on piano, Tommy Porter on bass—and it is nothing short of astonishing.
The band lays out the melody in the hippest syncopation you can imagine. Bird comes in with his solo, as cool, speedy, exhilarating, smooth, and witty as anything he ever did. It’s four minutes of sheer delight.
It’s on a wonderful 4-CD boxed set, from Savoy Jazz, called The Complete Live Performances on Savoy, but you can also hear it by clicking the External Link below.
A merry wiggy Christmas!