A Full House of Recorded Bebop

“BEBOP.” Milt Jackson. East-West 7 90991-2. “Bebop” as an album title (spelled without the hyphen, as it was in the book “Inside Bebop” in 1949 and has been ever since) is a rarity. Time was when the word was considered controversial and uncommercial; today it’s almost nostalgic.

As this new recording reminds us, veteran boppers like Jackson, J.J. Johnson and Jimmy Heath can team with slightly later arrivals such as pianist Cedar Walton and drummer Mickey Roker, as well as such relatively young lions as trumpeter Jon Faddis and bassist John Clayton, without any sense of a generation gap. The tunes (five by Gillespie, two by Parker, one by Tadd Dameron) have long been familiar to all hands, but even on this far-from-fresh material they bring a loose-limbed sensitivity to “Au Privave,” “Ornithology” and “Good Bait.” Gillespie’s “I Waited for You” is a bonus cut on the CD only. 4 stars.

“YARDBIRD SUITE.” Frank Morgan. Contemporary C 14045. It was inevitable that Morgan, as a direct disciple of Charlie Parker, would eventually come up with an album of tunes associated with him (he also includes “Skylark,” which he says Bird wanted to record but never did). With Ron Carter on bass, Al Foster on drums and the much younger but compatible Mulgrew Miller on piano, Morgan plays flawless tribute to his mentor, though on a cut as long as “Scrapple from the Apple” it would have been better to allot him more choruses in which to build up a head of steam, instead of yielding so often to piano or piano-and-sax trade-offs. Still, 4 stars.

“CRUISIN’ THE BIRD.” Bobby Hutcherson. Landmark LLP 1517. Despite the title tune, this is a triumph for Hutcherson as composer in a post-bop vein, and as today’s preeminent master both of bop and modal idioms, either on wood (he doubles delicately on marimba in three of his tunes) or metal (vibes on the rest). Fresh sounds, particularly from the young saxophonist Ralph Moore and the pianist Buddy Montgomery; top-notch support from Vic Lewis on drums and Rufus Reid on bass. On his subtly crafted “Sierra” and “Imminent Treasures,” Hutcherson puts them all through the tunes’ unpredictable harmonic and melodic paces. 5 stars.

“OOP POP A DA.” Moe Koffman Quintet featuring Dizzy Gillespie. Soundwings/Duke Street DSRD 31048. According to the LP notes, “Koffman joins forces with Dizzy Gillespie on seven swinging originals.” Wrong! Gillespie is heard only on “Night in Tunisia” and the title tune (plus a third in the CD version). “Oop Pop a Da” is described as “Gillespie’s new piece.” False! He wrote and recorded it in 1947. The originals of the Gillespie items were the definitive versions, but there is good jazz with an Americanadian accent here by Koffman (saxes, flute) and the world-class Canadian guitarist Ed Bickert. 2 1/2 stars.

“ARNETT COBB/DIZZY GILLESPIE/JEWEL BROWN.” Fantasy F 9659. More deceptive billing. Again Gillespie is heard on only two cuts, one of which is yet another “Tunisia.” On the other he plays very little and sings the blues, to comedic effect. Jewel Brown, a quondam Louis Armstrong singer, emerges from retirement for two cuts only; on “This Bitter Earth” she evokes an agreeable Dinah Washington flavor. Five cuts offer the tough Texas tenor sax of Cobb, a noble survivor of the 1940s Lionel Hampton band. The final tune features none of the three billed artists; it’s a hell-bent-for-boogie piano solo by Sammy Price, antiquated but adequate. 3 stars.

“THE METRONOME ALL STAR BANDS.” RCA Bluebird 7636-2-RB Imagine Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Navarro in the same trumpet team, J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding on trombones, plus Charlie Parker, Buddy de Franco and Lennie Tristano. This occurred in the final (1949) session of an intermittent series. The other dates, mainly prebop, began in 1937 with a quintet fired by Bunny Berigan, Fats Waller and Tommy Dorsey. The big bands, made up of poll winners, almost all white in the early years (that’s how jazz fans were educated back then), are graced by the presence of Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden and, later, Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Count Basie, Teddy Wilson, ensuring a plethora of brief but brilliant solos. The magazine folded in 1961; these works are its valuable legacy. 5 stars.

“BEBOP & BIRD.” Vol. I. Vol. II. Hipsville/Rhino R2 70197, 70198. An ethical as well as a musical question arises here. There are those who believe that anything ever committed to tape, even accidentally, by Charlie Parker ipso facto should be released and rates five stars; others feel that amateur recordings, with miserable sound quality, solos starting in mid-chorus and unexplained fade-outs, are less a dedication to his memory than a desecration of it. This writer leans to the latter view.

Of the 27 cuts, 15 are air checks from the Rockland Palace in Harlem or Birdland. With their sizzling drums and underrecorded bass, they sound as though they could have been recorded in a phone booth.

The remaining tracks stem from various Dial studio sessions, chosen with an apparent lack of discrimination.

In fairness to the memory of an artist whose genius has too often been ripped off, all the Dial studio dates should be assembled in sequence and issued on CDs; the balance of what is heard here could best be destroyed. No rating. (Note: “Charlie Parker: The Complete Original Master Takes,” two CDs comprising his seminal Savoy studio dates, is available on Savoy ZDS 8801; many other elaborate sets based on studio sessions will be released in the near future on Verve and Savoy.)