Bird's Mambo

[skycat]

Hope this is the right place to post this question: roughly twenty years ago bought the lp 'Charlie Parker - Bird on the Road' on Jazz Showcase label. All the tracks are live, maybe off the radio. The last two tracks are wonderful Latin big band uproar called Bongo Ballad and Bird's Mambo simply credited to Charlie Parker and unknown Latin band, summer 1950. Would anyone know who the band was and - even better - who was the pianist?

[clave]

Although I can't help on these titles (or personnel), Bird recorded with Machito's band on occasion.

Maybe LuckeyRaffy1925 will drop in with some ideas...

[PDEE]

Most of the discographies have no further details for these recordings.
Mambo has been issued as Bongo Ballad
Lament for the Congo as Bird's Mambo
both that way on Jazz Showcase 5003
Chasing down the alternative titles might help.
Tom Lord only lists the potential of Frank Socolow being present on tenor.
The rest of the band appears to be unknown, as is the actual recording date.

[bicho]

hi, it seems that the pianist is machito´s rene hernandez. look here for details: http://www.plosin.com/milesAhead/Bir...aspx?s=500519b

May 19, 1950 (3 items; TT = 14:27)
Renaissance Ballroom, New York NY
Private recording (Tape)
Machito's Afro-Cuban band


Charlie Parker (as); Howard McGhee (tpt); Mario Bauza (tpt); Frank "Paquito" Davilla (tpt); Bob Woodlen (tpt); Gene Johnson (as); Fred Skerritt (as); Jose Madera (ts); Frank Socolow (ts); Leslie Johnakins (bs); Rene Hernandez (p); Roberto Rodriguez (b); Jose Mangual (bgo); Luis Miranda (cga); Umbaldo Nieto (timbales); Frank "Machito" Grillo (maracas)


Mambo Fortunado (Unknown) [Bird's Mambo] 5:04

Lament for the Congo (Unknown) [Bongo Ballad] 5:44

Reminiscing at Twilight (F. Davilla) 3:39
No Parker solo.


hope that helps.

keep boppin´
marcel

[clave]

Marcel, thanks! I had a suspicion that some of the players might be from Machito's band.

[skycat]

Thanks folks for your speedy and helpful replies. I had wondered about Machito (didn't they record together on Verve?) but have never looked into it more closely. Grateful to you all....

[clave]

Originally Posted by skycat

Thanks folks for your speedy and helpful replies. I had wondered about Machito (didn't they record together on Verve?) but have never looked into it more closely. Grateful to you all....

Machito and Bird on Verve: yes. This collection would be a good place to start -



It includes Machito's 1st recording of Chico O'Farrill's "Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite" (with an assist from some N. Americans!); also his recording of O'Farrill's "Gone City."

[LuckeyRaffy1925]

hi, it seems that the pianist is machito´s rene hernandez. look here for details: http://www.plosin.com/milesAhead/Bir...aspx?s=500519b

May 19, 1950 (3 items; TT = 14:27)
Renaissance Ballroom, New York NY
Private recording (Tape)
Machito's Afro-Cuban band


Charlie Parker (as); Howard McGhee (tpt); Mario Bauza (tpt); Frank "Paquito" Davilla (tpt); Bob Woodlen (tpt); Gene Johnson (as); Fred Skerritt (as); Jose Madera (ts); Frank Socolow (ts); Leslie Johnakins (bs); Rene Hernandez (p); Roberto Rodriguez (b); Jose Mangual (bgo); Luis Miranda (cga); Umbaldo Nieto (timbales); Frank "Machito" Grillo (maracas)


Mambo Fortunado (Unknown) [Bird's Mambo] 5:04

Lament for the Congo (Unknown) [Bongo Ballad] 5:44

Reminiscing at Twilight (F. Davilla) 3:39

Hey Marcel,

Great sleuthing! Just to add for future reference, any Bird forays (that were documented for release) into Latin/Afro-Cuban territory always featured someone from the Machito personnel. So the Machito band is always a great place to start. Bird also played with Candido, Chino Pozo and Ray Barretto as well ins small group settings, though these were "live" gigs. Maybe someone someday will unearth some Birdland hit featuring these players sharing the stage?

I also want to touch on Rene Hernandez, who is the unheralded and under-acclaimed Mambo king and is one of the principal architects of Afro-Cuban Jazz. Mario Bauza certainly deserves alot of credit for having the fortitude and bringing his vision to fruition of establishing an authentic afro-cuban unit that would be on the same level as Basie or Ellington. But the arranger of most of their charts was Rene Hernandez. Ultimately, it is the arranger who shapes the music and brings it to life. Rene also had a hand in the music of Julio Gutierrez (Circa 1939) who many Cuban musical scholars point to as producing the frist proto-mambos that Perez Prado would eventually unleash in the late 1940s. On top of this, the Eddie Palmieri *sound* (Post La Perfecta) is all Rene Hernandez.

And finally, without much noticeable fanfare of any kind, the great LESLIE JOHNAKINS, who was a founding member of Machito and The Afro-Cubans under Mario Bauza, passed away quietly in his sleep in September. May he rest in peace...

[skycat]

Thanks again guys for erudite replies. Been wondering about personnel for years, now I can start checking out Rene Hernandez.

[SatinDoll]

@skycat:Many years ago I purchased an album (LP) with the mentioned latin tunes featuring Charlie Parker (Mambo, Lament for the Congo, Reminiscing at Twilight) from the british Spotlite label. The title of the album is "Afro-Cubop" and the liner notes tell us, that the source was a private recording of jazz critic Marshall Stearns. Anyway, Spolite was a great label with many rare stuff of Bird and other Bebop-greats. I still have them all, but I don´t know whether Spotlite still exists or if the re-issued all their material on CD.

[peter rh]

Spotlite Jazz (Tony Williams)
http://www.123webpages.co.uk/user/in...=spotlite&pn=1
still producing excellent recordings

[SatinDoll]

@peter rh: thank you, I just had a look at that site, oh yes, might purchase all the stuff I originally bought as LP. The early Bird, the Dial sessions, that incredible Billy Eckstine recording. But may I ask you: I´m missing some of the greatest things they had: Yardbird in LotusLand, Bird in Paris, Bird in Sweden, The Band that never Was, ....and the mentioned Afro Cubop. Only a few of the historical recordings...

[peter rh]

Satin - sorry, I don't know what happened with the other Bird items.
Some of the other (Bird) sessions were issued by Stash in the early 90s on cd.

[skycat]

Satin Doll and Peter - belated thanks for suggestions/info/link. Must admit hadn't occurred to me to check out Spotlight, seems obvious now you mention it. I don't see spotlight stuff in shops any more, sadly.

[jazmaan]

Today I was listening to Phil Schapp's "Bird Flight". The focus was the "Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite" featuring Bird, Flip Phillips and Buddy Rich. At the end of the broadcast Schapp said something to the effect of "There is a recording of a live performance purported to Bird with Machito's Big Band". The songs go by various titles. I played it for Mario Bauza and he insisted that its NOT Machito, AND IT'S NOT BIRD!"

I assume that Schapp was referring to the "Lament for the Congo" tape (unless there's some other tape floating around that's supposed to be Bird live with an Afro-Cuban Big Band that I'm unfamiliar with.)

Now I can accept that maybe "Lament for the Congo" is not Machito, but I was stunned and flabbergasted by the assertion that its not Bird? And Schapp seemed to be in agreement that its "some other alto player".

I refuse to believe this. What other alto player could it possibly be? The only one I can surmise would be Sonny Stitt, but I can't even imagine Stitt playing this kind of music so well.

What do you think? I'll leave a post about this on Schapp's Facebook, but he never seems to answer questions there.