Charlie Parker’s Dial and Savoy sessions can rightly be regarded as some of the most exciting jazz in recorded history – right up there with Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions in the 1920s. The deep underlying optimism of postwar America is perfectly expressed in the fleet-footed bebop of Bird.
This tune, alternately known as “Big Foot”, “Giant Swing”, and “Air Conditioning”, was recorded at his very last session for Dial in late 1947. The label contains an omission: Trombonist J.J. Johnson was a part of this session (thus making it a sextet rather than a quintet) but was not listed on the label.
This session comes in the middle of a very prolific period in New York City after being hospitalized and returning from a tumultuous stay in California in 1946.
0:00 Head
0:27 Alto Sax solo (Charlie Parker)
1:07 Trombone solo (J.J. Johnson)
1:34 Trumpet solo (Miles Davis)
2:01 Piano solo (Duke Jordan)
2:27 Bass solo (Tommy Potter)
2:40 Outro
Matrix D1151-E
Recorded at WOR Studios in New York City on December 17, 1947.
Released as Dial 1043.
Credits:
Charlie Parker – alto sax
Miles Davis – trumpet
Duke Jordan – piano
Tommy Potter – bass
Max Roach – drums
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