Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie, “Hot House” at DuMont Television, February 24, 1952

Description

Here’s a historic TV broadcast of the founding fathers of bebop, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, playing together in 1952. It’s one of only two known sound films of Parker playing–and the only one of him playing live, rather than synching to a prerecorded track.

The performance is from a February 24, 1952 broadcast on the pioneering DuMont Television Network. The full segment begins with a brief ceremony in which Parker and Gillespie receive awards from Down Beat magazine, but the clip above cuts straight to the music: a performance of the bebop standard “Hot House,” composed by Tad Dameron around the harmonic structure of Cole Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love?.”

The quintet includes Parker on alto saxophone, Gillespie on trumpet, Sandy Block on bass, Charlie Smith on drums and Dick Hyman on piano. It was Hyman, who had played with Parker and had his own nightly show on the DuMont network, who helped organize the appearance. In a 2010 interview with JazzWax, Hyman talked about what it was like playing on the show with Parker and Gillespie. “It was together,” he said. “Those guys played with such a good time and feel. It’s a terrific performance considering it was a pop show with just two cameras.”

Charlie Parker, also known as Bird or Yardbird, was born in Kansas City in 1920. A member of many swing era big bands, most notably Jay McShann, Parker would eventually go on to create and master the style known as Bebop. He was known for his dynamic approach to improvising. He was able to change styles on a dime, in one song searing and blazing fast, and then soulful, soft, and sweet in the next song. Over the course of Charlie Parker’s nearly 15 year career, he would associate with other heavy hitters of the jazz world at the time including but not limited to, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie,  and Thelonious Monk.