This 1953 live recording features a quintet of jazz titans in a fiery gig you’ll want to relive
JAZZ CHOICE
Hot House –The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings
Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and Bud Powell Craft Recordings 7253076 (1953 live recording) 115:31 mins (2 discs)
With a one-off line-up of four be-bop founders and a bass player soon to become one of the greatest composer/band-leaders in jazz history this release, presenting every performance from a legendary concert, (including those by the Powell, Mingus and Roach trio) had to be the lead Choice this month.
The evening seemed destined to be a disaster: only a third of the tickets were sold because the concert coincided with a world heavyweight boxing clash. Gillespie kept leaving the stage to check on the fight’s progress. Parker had pawned his sax and borrowed a plastic one. Powell was suffering mental health issues, was evidently under the influence of illicit substances and seemed to be in argumentative mood. Despite, or because of, these issues the music really caught fire, presenting be-bop at its peak. In particular Parker and Gillespie, close friends and intense rivals, goad each other into ever-increasing audacity.
Mingus taped the concert on his own recorder but somehow his playing was not captured. He subsequently dubbed in the bass lines. This release includes all the tracks from that night both with and without Mingus’s overdubs. ★★★★★
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