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Tommy Potter

Tommy Potter was always best-known for his association with Charlie Parker (1947-50), particularly for being a member of Bird's quintet at a time when its other players were Miles Davis, Duke Jordan and Max Roach. Never a major soloist himself on the level of an Oscar Pettiford, Potter (who usually just played four-to-the-bar lines) was really an advanced swing stylist who was flexible (and skilled) enough to keep up with Parker's often rapid tempoes. He actually began on the bass fairly late, originally playing piano and guitar and not switching to bass until he was already 21 in 1940. Potter worked with John Malachi, Trummy Young and then quite notably the Billy Eckstine Orchestra (1944- 45). After playing with John Hardee and Max Roach, Potter joined Bird's group. In addition to his work with Charlie Parker, Potter recorded with Bud Powell, Fats Navarro, Wardell Gray and other top bop musicians during the era.

In the 1950s he remained in demand, working with Count Basie (1950), Eckstine again (1950-51), Earl Hines (1952-53), Artie Shaw (1953-54), Eddie Heywood, Bud Powell's Trio, Tyree Glenn (1958-59), Harry "Sweets" Edison (1959-61), Buck Clayton and even Charles Lloyd. Although Potter's basic style gradually slipped behind the times, he had opportunities to record in many settings including with Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Shaw and Edison among others. After playing in a Charlie Parker memorial group in 1965, Potter gradually dropped out of music, becoming semi-retired

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Album Review

Charlie Parker: Be Bop Live

Read "Be Bop Live" reviewed by Mark Corroto


The name of the record label is ezz-thetics, which was also a composition by George Russell and an album of the same name (which featured Eric Dolphy) released by Riverside Records in 1961. Maybe a better moniker for the label is “Lest We Forget." Not that we could ever abandon Charlie Parker, but today when streaming services replace CDs and LPs, which also replaced 78s and live radio broadcasts (the streaming service of its day), Parker has the possibility of ...

Album Review

Charlie Parker Quintets: Be Bop Live

Read "Be Bop Live" reviewed by Stefano Merighi


Benvenuti a uno dei convegni di bellezza più eccitanti che il jazz abbia mai prodotto. Royal Roost, New York City, dicembre 1948-febbraio 1949, due mesi in cui Charlie “Bird" Parker teneva il cartellone nel club della Quarantasettesima, sconvolgendo il pubblico con alcune tra le sue esibizioni più brillanti. Il bop era già linguaggio assimilato ormai, ma l'eccezionalità di quelle serate confermava Parker come punta di diamante di tutta la cultura africana-americana, al di là delle correnti jazzistiche.Questo doppio ...

10
Album Review

Charlie Parker: Birth Of Bebop - Celebrating Bird At 100

Read "Birth Of Bebop - Celebrating Bird At 100" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Let's face it, there is absolutely nothing new to say about the music of Charlie Parker, unless (insert joke here) you happen to be Phil Schaap. Lao Tzu's quote “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long" is fitting. John Coltrane was 40 when he died in 1967, Eric Dolphy 36 in 1964, and Clifford Brown died at 25 in 1956. Parker was dead at the age of thirty-five in 1955. His legend has grown larger with ...

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