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Detroit Bop Quintet: Two Birds
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955
Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991
Duke Jordan
piano1922 - 2006
Tommy Potter
bass, acoustic1918 - 1988
Max Roach
drums1925 - 2007
Sarah Vaughan
vocals1924 - 1990
Dizzy Gillespie
trumpet1917 - 1993
Sixty-six years, seven months, and twenty-nine days later that session was reconvened at the same studio, with modern players to re-enact that fateful day. Unlike
Mostly Other People Do the Killing
band / ensemble / orchestra
Pete Mills
saxophone
Rick Roe
piano
Paul Keller
guitarProducer Ron Skinner and engineer Nick Bonin utilize a ten microphone setup, rather than the 4 or 6 the Siracuse family used to capture Bird. There was no real need to have Mills and Adams share a mic, as did Parker and Davis. The two tracks released here, "Bluebird" and "Another Hair-Do," are pressed into warm mono 7-inch vinyl to be spun at 45rpm. But this is also the 21st century, and the music is also available as a download in mono, stereo, and 5.1 surround.
The charm of this session is the intimacy of the music making. The players are in one room, facing each other with no distracting barriers or headphones. The track lengths, "Bluebird" at 3:19 and "Another Hair-Do" at 3:25 are concise, succinct jukebox hit fodder, a commodity sorely lacking from today's jazz releases. Pete Mills sets aside his trademark tenor for alto here, not necessarily impersonating Bird (because who can?) but coexisting within the bebop era of the late 1940s. The same is true of Adam's take on "Bluebird" and the muted trumpet of Miles. "Another Hair-Do," a blues re-do requires repeated spins to catch the slurry spill of trumpet, the funky hip switch of saxophone, and Roe's nursery rhyming piano. The music downloads might deliver the clearest sound available, but spinning the 7-inch, may I suggest, with the inevitable clicks and pops that come with vinyl, is the best strategy to set your own way-back machine. ">
Track Listing
Bluebird; Another Hair-Do.
Personnel
Paul Keller: bass; Dwight Adams: trumpet; Nate Winn: drums; Pete Mills: alto saxophone; Rick Roe: piano.
Album information
Title: Two Birds | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Top Quality Music
Tags
Detroit Bop Quintet
CD/LP/Track Review
Mark Corroto
Top Quality Music
United States
Michigan
Detroit
Charlie Parker
Miles Davis
Duke Jordan
Tommy Potter
Max Roach
Sarah Vaughan
Dizzy Gillespie
Mostly Other People Do The Killing
Pete Mills
Rick Roe
Paul Keller
Two Birds
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