Ten more, relatively obscure musicians who flew briefly into Charlie Parker’s orbit….

Part One

Joe Albany.                                                                                                                                    In early 1946, Charlie Parker felt he was ready to form his own band and with Miles Davis on trumpet, he chose Joe Albany for the piano chair. Joe was a fine pianist with a fluent technique in the bebop style - but with a difference. His chord voicings were distinct from other players at that time - Hampton Hawes, Duke Jordan, Al Haig – and Bird loved “different”.  Things did not run smoothly in the band however and Joe and Charlie disagreed about chords so strongly that eventually, Joe’s patience snapped. “**** you Bird” was the riposte as he walked out of the band following a particularly tense session, Charlie was said to have thought that Joe was too unreliable – oh the irony!

Joe had a life-long heroin addiction which unfortunately curtailed much of his career although he did achieve something of a ‘come-back’ in later years.

Tommy Turk.                                                                                                                               Tommy was a trombonist with a flamboyant, ear-catching technique with a ripe, coruscating tone. In 1947, JATP impresario Norman Granz heard Tommy play and invited him to join his touring jazz ‘circus’. He was perfect for this set-up because he could be relied upon to raise the excitement level with extravagant solos not always in good taste. He joined others such as Roy Eldridge and Flip Phillips who could also ‘raise the ante’ when needed. Granz insisted on Tommy playing on a Parker record date just prior to his visit to Paris in 1949.

He played typical, blustering, rousing choruses as well as adding harmony parts to Cardboard and Visa theme statements.

Dick Twardzick.                                                                                                                        Dick Twardzick was a very able pianist who worked in his home town of Boston for most of his short career. Taught by the legendary Madame Chaloff (Serge’s mother), his playing was unique with heavy ‘Bartokian’, classical overtones. This intrigued Bird of course but frustrated Charles Mingus on bass, who remonstrated with the young pianist to “play the right chords man!”. This didn’t faze Bird who used Twardzick on some of his visits to Boston later in his life.

Sadly, Richard Twardzick died of a heroin overdose at the age of 24 and the jazz world was tragically denied yet another formidable talent.

Jerome Darr                                                                                                                                 Impresario Norman Granz, owner of Norgram, Mercury and Verve record labels was very interested in the new technology of the day – the LP (long playing record) in the early 1950s. In particular, the concept of the ‘Songbook Album’ took his fancy and that is how the idea of the “Charlie Parker plays Cole Porter” LP was born. Bird was not in the best physical or mental shape at that time but went along with the idea with the prospect of good record sales and a decent payday. 

Journeyman guitarist Jerome Darr was added to Charlie’s regular rhythm section for the first session. How this occurred is not known, but one suspects the hand of Granz behind it. Jerome was a competent musician who was quite well-known as a studio player and this is probably where Norman plucked him from. His contribution to the date is minimal; starting with a decent offering to the intro and outro, and an unspectacular half chorus solo on I Get a Kick Out of You, he is reduced to playing barely audible rhythm guitar on the other selections and a harmony line on some intros. Jerome Darr’s association with Charlie Parker ended there and then…….

Mundell Lowe.                                                                                                                                 On 26th September 1952, Charlie Parker was booked to provide the music at an important event at The Rockland Palace Dance Hall. On the night, he took the two bands he was leading at the time - the Quintet and the String Band - to the gig. He replaced the usual trumpet with Mundell Lowe on guitar thinking it would be good to have for some of the dancing. On auditioning for the job, Mundell said “I must confess I was scared to death. Bird wanted to see what I could do. When I was done, he smiled wide exposing that gold tooth. When you saw that tooth, you knew Bird was real happy”. 

At the gig, Bird was “on fire” - it was one of his great nights. Inspired by the occasion, the excited crowd, Mundell’s challenging playing, and the fact that Chan Richardson was taping the music, he reached new heights in his solos using fewer of his ‘pet’ clichés. Lowe had a great night himself, playing with both groups so confidently one would have thought he was a regular. Nevertheless he never played for Bird again.

Mundell had a great career working in many genres - small groups, big bands, pop music, in the Studios, MD for Television and teaching, spanning many decades.

Dave Brownlow - Part Two to follow.