Hugues Panassié (left) and Tiny Grimes (right), New York, between 1946 and 1948.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb.

Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes (July 7, 1916 – March 4, 1989)^[1] was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He was a member of the Art Tatum Trio from 1943 to 1944, was a backing musician on recording sessions, and later led his own bands, including a recording session with Charlie Parker. He is notable for playing the tenor guitar, a four-stringed electric instrument.

Biography[link]

Grimes was born in Newport News, Virginia, United States,^[1] and began his musical career playing drums and one-fingered piano. In 1938 he took up the electric 4-string tenor guitar. In 1940 he joined Cats and a Fiddle as guitarist and singer.^[1] In 1943 he joined the Art Tatum Trio as guitarist and made a number of recordings with Tatum. The early Tatum Trio recordings contain some of the more interesting early examples of Tiny Grimes’ guitar work.

After leaving Tatum, Grimes recorded with his own groups in New York and with a long list of leading musicians, including vocalist Billie Holiday. He made four recordings with his own group augmented with Charlie Parker that are considered excellent examples of early bebop jazz: "Tiny’s Tempo", "Red Cross", "Romance Without Finance", and "I’ll Always Love You Just The Same", the latter two featuring Grimes' singing. He was one of the 52d street regulars.

In the late 1940s, he had a hit on a jazzed-up version of "Loch Lomond", with the band billed as Tiny "Mac" Grimes and the Rocking Highlanders^[1] and appearing in kilts. This groups included top tenor saxman Red Prysock and singer Screaming Jay Hawkins. Grimes continued to lead his own groups into the later 1970s and he recorded on Prestige Records in a series of strong blues-based performances with Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Pepper Adams, Roy Eldridge and other noted players including, in 1977, Earl Hines.^[2]

With Paul Williams, he co-headlined the first Moondog Coronation Ball, promoted by Alan Freed in Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 1952, often claimed as the first rock and roll concert. In 1953 he may have played on The Crows one-hit wonder, "Gee", that has been called the first original rock and roll record by an R&B group.^[3]

Grimes died in March 1989, in New York, from meningitis, at the age of 72.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Biography
• Review of singles by Tiny Grimes Quintet
• Hall of Twang

Art Tatum
Art Tatum, 1946
Background information
Birth name	Arthur Tatum, Jr.
Born	(1909-10-13)October 13, 1909 Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Died	November 5, 1956(1956-11-05) (aged 47)
Genres	Jazz, stride
Occupations	Jazz pianist
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1927–1956

Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. (October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind since birth.

Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time^[1] and he was a major influence on later generations of jazz pianists. He was noted for the complexity and speed of his performances, which set a new standard for jazz piano virtuosity. Critic Scott Yanow wrote, "Tatum's quick reflexes and boundless imagination kept his improvisations filled with fresh (and sometimes futuristic) ideas that put him way ahead of his contemporaries ... Art Tatum's recordings still have the ability to scare modern pianists."^[2]

Life and career[link]

Art Tatum, at the Vogue Room, New York (between 1946 and 1948)

For a musician of such stature, there is very little published information available about Tatum's life. Only one full-length biography has been published, Too Marvelous for Words, by James Lester.^[3] Lester interviewed many of Tatum's contemporaries for the book and drew from many articles published about him.

Early years[link]

Tatum was born in Toledo, Ohio. His father, Arthur Tatum, Sr., was a guitarist and an elder at Grace Presbyterian Church, where his mother, Mildred Hoskins, played piano.^[4] He had two siblings, Karl and Arlene.^[5] From infancy he suffered from cataracts (of disputed cause) which left him blind in one eye and with only very limited vision in the other. A number of surgical procedures improved his eye condition to a degree but some of the benefits were reversed when he was assaulted in 1930 at age 20.^[6]

A child prodigy with perfect pitch, Tatum learned to play by ear, picking out church hymns by the age of three, learning tunes from the radio and copying piano-roll recordings his mother owned. In a Voice of America interview, he denied the widespread rumor that he learned to play by copying piano roll recordings made by two pianists.^[7] He developed an incredibly fast playing style, without losing accuracy. As a child he was also very sensitive to the piano's intonation and insisted it be tuned often.^[8] While playing piano was the most obvious application of his mental and physical skills, he also had an encyclopedic memory for Major League Baseball statistics.

In 1925, Tatum moved to the Columbus School for the Blind, where he studied music and learned braille. Subsequently he studied piano with Overton G. Rainey at either the Jefferson School or the Toledo School of Music. Rainey, who too was visually impaired, likely taught Tatum in the classical tradition, as Rainey did not improvise and discouraged his students from playing jazz.^[9] In 1927, Tatum began playing on Toledo radio station WSPD as 'Arthur Tatum, Toledo's Blind Pianist', during interludes in Ellen Kay's shopping chat program and soon had his own program.^[10] By the age of 19, Tatum was playing with singer Jon Hendricks, also an Ohioan, at the local Waiters' and Bellmens' Club.^[11] As word of Tatum spread, national performers passing through Toledo, including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Joe Turner and Fletcher Henderson, would make it a point to drop in to hear the piano phenomenon.

Musical career[link]

Tatum drew inspiration from the pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, who exemplified the stride piano style, and from the more "modern" Earl Hines, six years Tatum's senior. Tatum identified Waller as his main influence, but according to pianist Teddy Wilson and saxophonist Eddie Barefield, "Art Tatum's favorite jazz piano player was Earl Hines. He used to buy all of Earl's records and would improvise on them. He'd play the record but he'd improvise over what Earl was doing ..... 'course, when you heard Art play you didn't hear nothing of anybody but Art. But he got his ideas from Earl's style of playing – but Earl never knew that."^[12] A major event in his meteoric rise to success was his appearance at a cutting contest in 1933 at Morgan's bar in New York City that included Waller, Johnson and Willie "The Lion" Smith. Standard contest pieces included Johnson's "Harlem Strut" and "Carolina Shout" and Fats Waller's "Handful of Keys." Tatum triumphed with his arrangements of "Tea for Two" and "Tiger Rag", in a performance that was considered to be the last word in stride piano. James P. Johnson, reminiscing about Tatum's debut afterward, simply said, "When Tatum played Tea For Two that night I guess that was the first time I ever heard it really played." ^[13] Tatum's debut was historic because he outplayed the elite competition and heralded the demise of the stride era. He was not challenged further until stride specialist Donald Lambert initiated a half-serious rivalry with him.

Tatum worked in New York at the Onyx Club for a few months and recorded his first four solo sides on the Brunswick label in March, 1933.^[5] He returned to Ohio and played around the American midwest in the mid-1930s and played on the Fleischman Hour radio program hosted by Rudy Vallee in 1935. He also played stints at the Three Deuces in Chicago and in Los Angeles played at The Trocadero, the Paramount and the Club Alabam.^[14] In 1937 he returned to New York where he appeared at clubs and played on national radio programs.^[11] The following year he embarked on the Queen Mary for England where he toured,^[15] playing for three months at Ciro's Club owned by bandleader Ambrose. In the late 1930s he returned to play and record in Los Angeles and New York.

1940s[link]

In 1941, Tatum recorded two sessions for Decca Records with singer Big Joe Turner, the first of which included "Wee Wee Baby Blues", which attained national popularity. Two years later Tatum won Esquire Magazine's first jazz popularity poll. Perhaps believing there was a limited audience for solo piano, Tatum formed a trio in 1943 with guitarist Tiny Grimes and bassist Slam Stewart, whose perfect pitch enabled him to follow Tatum's excursions. Tatum recorded exclusively with the trio for almost two years, but abandoned the trio format in 1945 and returned to solo piano work. Although Tatum was idolized by many jazz musicians, his popularity faded in the mid to late forties with the advent of bebop - a movement which Tatum did not embrace.

The last two years of his life, Tatum regularly played at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit, including his final public performance in April 1956.^[16] Earlier, Tatum had personally selected and purchased for Clarence Baker the Steinway piano at Baker's, finding it in a New York showroom, and shipping it to Detroit.^[17]

Death[link]

Art Tatum died at Queen of Angels Medical Center in Los Angeles, California from the complications of uremia (as a result of kidney failure). He was originally interred at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, but was moved to the Great Mausoleum of Glendale's Forest Lawn Cemetery in 1991^{[citation needed]}. He was survived by his wife, Geraldine Tatum. Geraldine died on May 4, 2010 in Los Angeles, and was interred beside Art at Forest Lawn Cemetery.^[18]

Style[link]

Tatum built upon stride and classical piano influences to develop a novel and unique piano style. He introduced a strong, swinging pulse to jazz piano, highlighted with spectacular cadenzas that swept across the entire keyboard. His interpretations of popular songs were exuberant, sophisticated, grandiose and intricate. Jazz soloing in the 1930s had not yet evolved into the free-ranging extended improvisations that flowered in the bebop era of the 1940s, 1950s and beyond. But jazz musicians were beginning to incorporate improvisation while playing over the chord changes of tunes, and Tatum was a leader in that movement. He sometimes improvised lines that presaged bebop and later jazz genres, although generally not venturing far from the original melodic line. Tatum embellished melodic lines, however, with an array of signature devices and runs that appeared throughout his repertoire. As he matured, Tatum became more adventurous in abandoning the written melody and elongating his improvisations.

Tatum's unique sound was attributable to his harmonic inventiveness as well as technical prowess. He was an innovator in reharmonizing melodies by changing the supporting chord progressions or by altering the root movements of a piece. This technique casts a familiar theme in a fresh light and gives the music an unexpected quality. Many of his harmonic concepts and larger chord voicings (e.g., 13th chords with various flat or sharp intervals) were well ahead of their time in the 1930s (except for their partial emergence in popular songs of the jazz age) and they would be explored by bebop-era musicians a decade later. He worked some of the upper extensions of chords into his lines, a practice which was further developed by Bud Powell and Charlie Parker, which in turn was an influence on the development of 'modern jazz'. Tatum also pioneered the use of dissonance in jazz piano, as can be heard, for example, on his recording of "Aunt Hagar's Blues",^[19] which uses extensive dissonance to achieve a bluesy effect. In addition to using major and minor seconds, dissonance was inherent in the complex chords that Tatum frequently used.

Tatum could also play the blues with authority. Pianist Jay McShann, not known for showering compliments on his rivals said "Art could really play the blues. To me, he was the world's greatest blues player, and I think few people realized that." ^[20] His repertoire, however, was predominantly Broadway and popular standards, whose chord progressions and variety better suited his talents. His approach was elaborate, pyrotechnic, dramatic and joyous. His protean style combined stride, jazz, swing, boogie-woogie and classical elements, while the musical ideas flowed in rapid-fire fashion. Benny Green wrote in his collected work of essays, The Reluctant Art, that "Tatum has been the only jazz musician to date who has made an attempt to conceive a style based upon all styles, to master the mannerisms of all schools and then synthesize those into something personal." ^[21] He was playful, spontaneous and often inserted quotes from other songs into his improvisations.^[22] Tatum was not inclined toward understatement or expansive use of space. He seldom played in a simplified way, preferring interpretations that displayed his great technique and clever harmonizations. When jazz pianist Stanley Cowell was growing up in Toledo, his father prevailed upon Tatum to play piano at the Cowell home. Stanley described the scene as, "Tatum played so brilliantly and so much . . . that I thought the piano was gonna break. My mother left the room . . . so I said 'What's wrong, Mama?' And she said 'Oh, that man plays too much piano.'" ^[23] A handful of critics, notably Keith Jarret, have complained that Tatum played too many notes^[24] or was too ornamental or was even 'unjazzlike'. Jazz critic Gary Giddins opined, "That is the essence of Tatum. If you don't like his ornament, you should be listening to someone else. That's where his genius is." ^[25]

From the foundation of stride, Tatum made great leaps forward in technique and harmony and he honed a groundbreaking improvisational style that extended the limits of what was possible in jazz piano. His innovations were to greatly influence later jazz pianists, such as Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, Billy Taylor, Bill Evans, Tete Montoliu and Chick Corea. One of Tatum's innovations was his extensive use of the pentatonic scale, which may have inspired later pianists to further mine its possibilities as a device for soloing. Herbie Hancock described Tatum's unique tone as "majestic" and devoted some time to unlocking this sound and to noting Tatum's harmonic arsenal.^[26]

The sounds that Tatum produced with the piano were also distinctive. It was said that he could make a bad piano sound good. Generally playing at mezzoforte volume, he employed the entire keyboard from deep bass tones to sonorous mid-register chords to sparkling upper register runs. He used the sustain pedal sparingly so that each note was clearly articulated and chords were cleanly sounded. He played with boundless energy and occasionally his speedy and precise delivery produced an almost mechanical effect not unlike the sound of a player piano.

Technique[link]

Critic Gunther Schuller declared, "On one point there is universal agreement: Tatum's awesome technique."^[27] That technique was marked by a calm physical demeanor and efficiency. He did not indulge in theatrical physical or facial expression. The effortless gliding of his hands over difficult passages puzzled most who witnessed the phenomenon. He especially mystified other pianists to whom Tatum appeared to be "playing the impossible."^[28] Even when playing scintillating runs at high velocity, it appeared that his fingers hardly moved. Hank Jones said, "When I finally met him and got a chance to hear him play in person, it seemed as if he wasn’t really exerting much effort, he had an effortless way of playing. It was deceptive. You’d watch him and you couldn’t believe what was coming out, what was reaching your ears. He didn’t have that much motion at the piano. He didn’t make a big show of moving around and waving his hands and going through all sorts of physical gyrations to produce the music that he produced, so that in itself is amazing. There had to be intense concentration there, but you couldn’t tell by just looking at him play."^[29] Using self-taught fingering, including an array of two-fingered runs, he executed the pyrotechnics with meticulous accuracy and timing. His execution was all the more remarkable considering that he drank prodigious amounts of alcohol when performing,^[30] yet his recordings are never sloppy. Tatum also displayed phenomenal independence of the hands and ambidexterity, which was particularly evident while improvising counterpoint. Jazz historian and commentator Ira Gitler declared that Tatum's "left hand was the equal of his right." ^[31] Around 1950 when Bud Powell was opening for Tatum at Birdland, Powell reportedly said to Tatum, "Man, I'm going to really show you about tempo and playing fast. Anytime you're ready." Tatum laughed and replied, "Look, you come in here tomorrow, and anything you do with your right hand, I'll do with my left." Powell never took up the challenge.^[32]

Tatum played chords with a relatively flat-fingered technique compared to the curvature taught in classical training. Composer/pianist Mary Lou Williams told Whitney Balliett, "Tatum taught me how to hit my notes, how to control them without using pedals. And he showed me how to keep my fingers flat on the keys to get that clean tone." ^[33] Jimmy Rowles said, "Most of the stuff he played was clear over my head. There was too much going on — both hands were impossible to believe. You couldn't pick out what he was doing because his fingers were so smooth and soft, and the way he did it — it was like camouflage."^[34] When his fastest tracks of "Tiger Rag" are slowed down, they still reveal a coherent, syncopated rhythm.

After hours[link]

Art Tatum headlining at the Famous Door nightclub on 52nd Street, May 1948

After regular club dates, Tatum would decamp to after-hours clubs to hang out with other musicians who would play for each other. Biographer James Lester notes that Tatum enjoyed listening to other pianists and preferred to play last when several pianists played. He frequently played for hours on end into the dawn, to the detriment of his marriages.^[30] Tatum was said to be more spontaneous and creative in those free-form nocturnal sessions than in his scheduled performances.^[30] Evidence of this can be found in the set entitled 20th Century Piano Genius which consists of 40 tunes recorded at private parties at the home of Hollywood music director Ray Heindorf in 1950 and 1955. According to the review by Marc Greilsamer, "All of the trademark Tatum elements are here: the grand melodic flourishes, the harmonic magic tricks, the flirtations with various tempos and musical styles. But what also emerges is Tatum's effervescence, his joy, and his humor. He seems to celebrate and mock these timeless melodies all at once."^[35]

Group work[link]

Tatum tended to work and to record unaccompanied, partly because relatively few musicians could keep pace with his fast tempos and advanced harmonic vocabulary. Other musicians expressed amazed bewilderment at performing with Tatum. Drummer Jo Jones, who recorded a 1956 trio session with Tatum and bassist Red Callender is quoted as quipping, "I didn't even play on that session [...] all I did was listen. I mean, what could I add? [...] I felt like setting my damn drums on fire."^[36] Clarinetist Buddy DeFranco said that playing with Tatum was "like chasing a train."^[31] Tatum said of himself, "A band hampers me."^[37]

Tatum did not readily adapt or defer to other musicians in ensemble settings. Early in his career he was required to restrain himself when he worked as accompanist for vocalist Adelaide Hall in 1932-33. Perhaps because Tatum believed there was a limited audience for solo piano, he formed a trio in 1943 with guitarist Tiny Grimes and bassist Slam Stewart, whose perfect pitch enabled him to follow Tatum's excursions. He later recorded with other musicians, including a notable session with the 1944 Esquire Jazz All-Stars, which included Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and other jazz greats, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. He also recorded memorable group sessions for Norman Granz in the mid-1950s.

Repertoire[link]

Tatum's repertoire consisted mainly of music from the Great American Songbook — Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and other popular music of the 20s, 30s and 40s. He played his own arrangements of a few classical piano pieces as well, most famously Dvořák's Humoresque no. 7 and Massenet's "Elegie". These interpretations are unsurpassed in conception and inventiveness by anything that has been recorded since^{[citation needed]}. Although Tatum was not known as a composer,^[38] his versions of popular numbers were so original as to border on composition.

Emulators[link]

Mainstream jazz piano has gone in a different direction than that pioneered by Tatum. Nevertheless, transcriptions of Tatum are popular and are often practiced assiduously.^[39] But perhaps because his playing was so difficult to copy, only a handful of musicians — such as Oscar Peterson, Johnny Costa, Johnny Guarnieri, Adam Makowicz, Luther G. Williams, Steven Mayer and Christopher Jordan, and, outside of the usual roster of jazz pianists, Andre Previn — have attempted to seriously emulate or challenge Tatum. Although Bud Powell was of the bebop movement, his prolific and exciting style showed Tatum influence.^{[citation needed]}

Recordings[link]

Tatum recorded commercially from 1932 until near his death. Although recording opportunities were somewhat intermittent for most of his career due to his solo style, he left copious recordings.^[40] He recorded for Decca (1934–41), Capitol (1949, 1952) and for the labels associated with Norman Granz (1953–56). Tatum demonstrated remarkable memory when he recorded 68 solo tracks for Norman Granz in two days, all but three of the tracks in one take. He also recorded a series of group recordings for Granz with, among others, Ben Webster, Jo Jones, Buddy DeFranco, Benny Carter, Harry Sweets Edison, Roy Eldridge and Lionel Hampton.

Film[link]

Although only a small amount of film showing Tatum playing exists today, several minutes of professionally-shot archival footage can be found in Martin Scorsese's documentary The Blues. Footage also appears in Ken Burns' documentary Jazz, which includes a short passage on Tatum's life and work, including comments from Jimmy Rowles and Gary Giddins. Tatum appeared in the 1947 movie The Fabulous Dorseys, first playing a solo and then accompanying Dorsey's band in an impromptu song.

Tatum appeared on Steve Allen's Tonight Show in the early 1950s, and on other television shows from this era. Unfortunately, all of the kinescopes of the Allen shows, which were stored in a warehouse along with other now defunct shows, were thrown into a local rubbish dump to make room for new studios. However, the soundtracks were recorded off-air by Tatum enthusiasts at the time, and many are included in Storyville Records extensive series of rare Tatum recordings.

Tatum is portrayed briefly (by actor Johnny O'Neill) in Ray, a 2004 biopic about R&B artist Ray Charles. When Charles enters a nightclub he remarks, "Are my ears deceiving me or is that Art Tatum?" O'Neill captures Tatum's cool and collected presence at the keyboard.

Legacy and tributes[link]

Tatum posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989.

Numerous stories exist about other musicians' respect for Tatum. Perhaps the most famous is the story about the time Tatum walked into a club where Fats Waller was playing, and Waller stepped away from the piano bench to make way for Tatum, announcing, "I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house."^[41] Fats Waller's son confirmed the statement.^[42]

Charlie Parker (who helped develop bebop) was highly influenced by Tatum. When newly arrived in New York, Parker briefly worked as a dishwasher in a Manhattan restaurant where Tatum was performing and often listened to the legendary pianist. Parker once said, “I wish I could play like Tatum’s right hand!”^[43]

When Oscar Peterson was still a young boy, his father played him a recording of Art Tatum performing "Tiger Rag". Once the young Peterson was finally persuaded that it was performed by a single person, Peterson was so intimidated that he did not touch the piano for weeks.^[44] Interviewing Oscar Peterson in 1962, Les Tompkins asked, "Is there one musician you regard as the greatest?" Peterson replied, "I’m an Art Tatum–ite. If you speak of pianists, the most complete pianist that we have known and possibly will know, from what I’ve heard to date, is Art Tatum."^[45] "Musically speaking, he was and is my musical God, and I feel honored to remain one of his humbly devoted disciples."^[46]

"Here's something new .... " pianist Hank Jones remembers thinking when he first heard Art Tatum on radio in 1935, " .... they have devised this trick to make people believe that one man is playing the piano, when I know at least three people are playing."^[47]

The jazz pianist and educator Kenny Barron commented, "I have every record [Tatum] ever made — and I try never to listen to them … If I did, I'd throw up my hands and give up!"^[48] Jean Cocteau dubbed Tatum "a crazed Chopin." Count Basie called him the eighth wonder of the world. Dave Brubeck observed, "I don't think there's any more chance of another Tatum turning up than another Mozart."^[49] Pianist Mulgrew Miller, a noted fan of Tatum, commented on personal growth by saying, "When I talk to the people I admire, they're always talking about continuous growth and development and I look at them and say, 'Well...what are YOU going to do?' But, as Harold Mabern says, 'There's always Art Tatum records around'".^[50] Dizzy Gillespie said, "First you speak of Art Tatum, then take a long deep breath, and you speak of the other pianists."^[51]

The elegant pianist Teddy Wilson observed, "Maybe this will explain Art Tatum. If you put a piano in a room, just a bare piano. Then you get all the finest jazz pianists in the world and let them play in the presence of Art Tatum. Then let Art Tatum play ... everyone there will sound like an amateur."^[51]

Other luminaries of the day including Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Godowsky and George Gershwin marveled at Tatum's genius.^[30]

Jazz critic Leonard Feather has called Tatum "the greatest soloist in jazz history, regardless of instrument."^[51]

In 1993, J. A. Bilmes, a MIT student invented a term that is now in common usage in the field of computational musicology: The Tatum. It means "the smallest perceptual time unit in music" and is a tribute to Tatum's pianistic velocity.^[52]

The Toledo Jazz Society presents an annual event dedicated to Tatum entitled the Art Tatum Jazz Heritage Festival.^[53]

Zenph Studios, a software company focused on precisely understanding how musicians perform, recorded a new album of Tatum’s playing with Sony Masterworks in 2007. Using computer equipment coupled with an electronic incarnation of the player piano, they created re-performances of Tatum’s first four commercial tracks, from March 21, 1933, and the nine tracks from the April 2, 1949 live concert at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium. Sony recorded these anew in the same venue, in front of a live audience. These 13 tracks are on the album, Piano Starts Here: Live from The Shrine, which was recorded in high-resolution surround-sound and in binaural, as well as regular stereo. The binaural recording, when heard in headphones, let you hear what Tatum may have heard as he played on stage, with the piano spatially in front (bass on the left, treble on the right) and the live audience clearly downstage on the righthand side.^[54] Zenph’s re-performances have been performed live in numerous venues, including the Toronto Jazz Festival ^[55] and New York’s Apollo Theater. Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson requested a live presentation, which he heard in an emotional re-performance in his home in March 2007.

Tatum's work was used and referenced heavily in the WB TV series Everwood (2002–2006), with some actual sound recordings used and compositions being performed in concerts by Ephram Brown (portrayed by Gregory Smith) in select episodes. James Earl Jones' character Will Cleveland introduced these works to young Ephram, who was an aspiring pianist, in the second season episode "Three Miners From Everwood".

For his 2008 album Act Your Age, Gordon Goodwin wrote a new big band arrangement to accompany Zenph’s re-performance of “Yesterdays,” and the track was recognized with a Grammy Nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement.^[56]

In 2009 in Toledo at the new Lucas County Arena a memorial was placed to Art Tatum.^[57]

Non pianist musicians influenced by Tatum's improvisational virtuosity include Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead who was quoted in the June 1985 edition of Frets Magazine as saying: "Art Tatum is my all-time favorite. Yeah, he’s my all-time favorite. He’s the guy I put on when I want to feel really small [laughs]. When I want to feel really insignificant [laughs]. He’s a good guy to play for any musician, you know. He’ll make them want to go home and burn their instruments. [Laughs.] Art Tatum is absolutely the most incredible musician – what can you say?"

Pianist Yuja Wang, herself an admirer of Tatum's improvisational freedom, has recorded his 1933 arrangement of Tea for Two in her album, Fantasia.^[58][59] This was included in the iTunes release of the album.^[60] She is also known to have played it as an encore during a concert in Avery Fisher Hall.^[61]

Discography[link]

• Art Tatum Piano Impressesions, ARA A-1, date unknown c.1940s
• Art Tatum Piano Solos, Asch 356, c.1945
• Footnotes to Jazz, Vol. 2: Jazz Rehearsal, II- Art Tatum Trio, Folkways Records, 1952
• Makin' Whoopee, Verve, 1954
• The Greatest Piano Hits of Them All, Verve, 1954
• Genius Of Keyboard 1954–56, Giants Of Jazz
• Still More of the Greatest Piano Hits of Them All, Verve, 1955
• More of the Greatest Piano Hits of All Time, Verve, 1955
• The Art Tatum-Ben Webster Quartet, Verve, 1956, reissued as The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight, Pablo, 1975
• The Essential Art Tatum, Verve, 1956
• Capitol Jazz Classics - Volume 3 Solo Piano, Capitol M-11028, 1972
• Masterpieces, Leonard Feather Series MCA2-4019, MCA, 1973
• God is in the House, Onyx, 1973 [re-released on High Note, 1998]

• Piano Starts Here, Columbia, 1987
• The Complete Capitol Recordings, Vol. 1, Capitol, 1989
• The Complete Capitol Recordings, Vol. 2, Capitol, 1989
• Solos 1940, Decca/MCA, 1989

• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 6, Pablo, 1990
• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 7, Pablo, 1990
• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 4, Pablo, 1990
• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 2, Pablo, 1990
• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 3, Pablo, 1990
• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 1, Pablo, 1990
• Art Tatum at His Piano, Vol. 1, Crescendo, 1990
• The Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces, Pablo, 1990
• Classic Early Solos (1934–37), Decca Records, 1991
• The Complete Pablo Solo Masterpieces, Pablo, 1991
• The Best of Art Tatum, Pablo, 1992
• Standards, Black Lion, 1992
• The V-Discs, Black Lion, 1992
• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 1, Pablo, 1992
• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 2, Pablo, 1992
• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 3, Pablo, 1992
• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 4, Pablo, 1992
• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 5, Pablo, 1992
• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 6, Pablo, 1992
• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 7, Pablo, 1992
• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 8, Pablo, 1992
• I Got Rhythm: Art Tatum, Vol. 3 (1935–44), Decca Records, 1993
• Fine Art & Dandy, Drive Archive, 1994
• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 2, Pablo, 1994
• Marvelous Art, Star Line Records, 1994
• House Party, Star Line Records, 1994
• Masters of Jazz, Vol. 8, Storyville (Denmark), 1994
• California Melodies, Memphis Archives, 1994
• 1934–40, Jazz Chronological Classics, 1994
• 1932–44 (3 CD Box Set), Jazz Chronological Classics, 1995
• The Rococo Piano of Art Tatum, Pearl Flapper, 1995
• I Know That You Know, Jazz Club Records, 1995
• Piano Solo Private Sessions October 1952, New York, Musidisc (France), 1995
• The Art of Tatum, ASV Living Era, 1995
• Trio Days, Le Jazz, 1995
• 1933–44, Best of Jazz (France), 1995
• 1940–44, Jazz Chronological Classics, 1995
• Vol. 16-Masterpieces, Jazz Archives Masterpieces, 1996
• 20th Century Piano Genius (20th Century/Verve, 1996
• Body & Soul,Jazz Hour (Netherlands), 1996
• Solos (1937) and Classic Piano, Forlane, 1996
• Complete Capitol Recordings, Blue Note, 1997
• Memories Of You (3 CD Set) Black Lion, 1997
• On The Sunny Side Topaz Jazz, 1997
• 1944, Giants Of Jazz, 1998
• Standard Sessions (2 CD Set), Music & Arts, 1996 & 2002/Storyville 1999
• Piano Starts Here - Live at The Shrine (Zenph Re-Performance), Sony BMG Masterworks, 2008
• Art Tatum - Ben Webster: The Album (Essential Jazz Classics) 2009

Actress Tatum O'Neal states in her book A paper life that she was named for him.

Notes[link]

Tatum recorded commercially from 1932 until near his death. Although recording opportunities were somewhat intermittent for most of his career due to his solo style, he left copious recordings.[37] He recorded for Decca (1934–41)

References[link]

• Jed Distler (1981/1986) Art Tatum: Jazz Masters Series: intro and notes to Tatum Piano Transcriptions: Amsco Publications: ISBN 0-8256-4085-7
• James Lester (1994) Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-509640-1
• Gunther Schuller (1989) The Swing Era - The Development of Jazz 1930-1945, "Art Tatum" p 476-502, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-507140-5
• Riccardo Scivales (1998) The Right Hand According to Tatum, Ekay Music, Inc. ISBN 0-943748-85-2

External links[link]

• Art Tatum African American Resource Center
• JAZZ (Ken Burns) Artist Biography: Art Tatum
• NPR Jazz Profiles: Art Tatum
• NPR Music Artist Profile: Art Tatum

Slam Stewart
Slam Stewart, ca. 1946
Background information
Birth name	Leroy Elliott Stewart
Born	(1914-09-21)September 21, 1914
Origin	Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	December 10, 1987(1987-12-10) (aged 73)
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	Double bass

Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart (September 21, 1914 – December 10, 1987) was an African American jazz bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was originally a violin player before switching to bass at the age of 20.

Biography[link]

Stewart was born in Englewood, New Jersey in 1914. While attending the Boston Conservatory, he heard Ray Perry singing along with his violin. This gave him the inspiration to follow suit with his bass. In 1937 Stewart teamed with Slim Gaillard to form the novelty jazz act Slim and Slam. The duo's biggest hit was "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)" in 1938 (see 1938 in music).

Stewart found regular session work throughout the 1940s with Lester Young, Fats Waller, Coleman Hawkins, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, Johnny Guarnieri, Red Norvo, Don Byas, the Benny Goodman Sextet, and Beryl Booker, among others. One of the most famous sessions he played on took place in 1945, when Stewart played with Dizzy Gillespie's group (which featured Charlie Parker). Out of those sessions came some of the classics of bebop such as "Groovin' High" and "Dizzy Atmosphere."

Throughout the rest of his career, Stewart worked regularly and employed his unique and enjoyable bass-playing style. He died in 1987 in Binghamton, New York.

Audio samples[link]

	"Groovin' High", written by Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Paparelli noicon This sample highlights Slam Stewart's style of bowing and simultaneously singing/humming one octave higher. Stewart's solo picks up at the end of a Charlie Parker saxophone solo, and leads into a trumpet solo by Dizzy Gillespie.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Slam Stewart (1971)
• Slamboree (1972)
• Fish Scales (1975)
• Two Big Mice (1977)
• Dialogue (1978)
• Shut Yo' Mouth! (1981)
• The Cats Are Swingin' (1987)
• Slam Bam (2000)

Compilations[link]

• Bowin' Singin' Slam (1945)
• Memorial Album 1914-1987 (1978)
• 1945-1946 (1997)
• Jumpin' at the Deuces

Films[link]

• Hellzapoppin' (1941)
• Almost Married (1942)
• Boy! What a Girl! (1947)

Sources[link]

• Stewart at Allmusic
• A Slam Stewart Biography

External links[link]

• www.myspace.com/slamstewart - Fan page with music, videos, more
• Slam Stewart and other jazz musicians on Don Gabor's Continental Records

Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins, circa September 1946. Photo: William P. Gottlieb.
Background information
Birth name	Coleman Randolph Hawkins
Born	(1904-11-21)November 21, 1904
Origin	Saint Joseph, Missouri, United States
Died	May 19, 1969(1969-05-19) (aged 64)
Genres	Swing music, bebop
Instruments	Tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, clarinet
Years active	1921-1969[1]
Associated acts	Ben Webster, Max Roach

Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.^[2] Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn".^[3] While Hawkins is most strongly associated with the swing music and big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s.^[2]

Lester Young, who was called "Pres", in a 1959 interview with The Jazz Review, said "As far as I'm concerned, I think Coleman Hawkins was the President first, right? As far as myself, I think I'm the second one."^[3] Miles Davis once said: "When I heard Hawk, I learned to play ballads."^[3] Hawkins was nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean".

Biography[link]

Coleman Hawkins (incorrectly spelled "Haskins" in the caption) pictured in the Topeka High School orchestra, from the 1921 yearbook.

Early life and the swing era[link]

Hawkins was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri, in 1904. Some out-of-date sources say 1901, but there is no evidence to prove an earlier date; instead, there is record of Hawkins's parents' first female child being born on 8 March 1901 and dying in 1903 at the age of two, possibly basis for the mistaken belief.^[4] He was named Coleman after his mother Cordelia's maiden name.

He attended high school in Chicago, then in Topeka, Kansas at Topeka High School. He later stated that he studied harmony and composition for two years at Washburn College in Topeka while still attending THS. In his youth he played piano and cello, and started playing saxophone at the age of nine; by the age of fourteen he was playing around eastern Kansas.

Hawkins's first major gig was with Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds in 1921, whom he joined permanently in April 1922 and toured with through 1923, when he settled in New York City. Hawkins joined Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, where he remained until 1934, sometimes doubling on clarinet and bass saxophone. Hawkins's playing changed significantly during Louis Armstrong's tenure with the Henderson Orchestra during 1924-25. In the late 20's, Hawkins also participated in some of the earliest interracial recording sessions with the Mound City Blue Blowers. During the time with Henderson, he became a star soloist with an increasing amount of star solos on record. While with the band, he and Henry "Red" Allen recorded a series of small group sides for ARC (on their Perfect, Melotone, Romeo, and Oriole labels). Hawkins also recorded a number of solo recordings, with either piano or with a pick-up band of Henderson's musicians in 1933-34, just prior to his European trip. He was also featured on a landmark Benny Goodman February 2, 1934 session for Columbia, which also featured Mildred Bailey as guest vocalist.

In late 1934, Hawkins accepted an invitation to play with Jack Hylton's band in London, and toured Europe as a soloist until 1939, memorably working with Django Reinhardt and Benny Carter in Paris in 1937.^[5] Having returned to the United States, on October 11, 1939, he recorded a two-chorus performance of the pop standard "Body and Soul", which he had been performing at Kelly's Stables. A landmark recording of the swing era, recorded as an afterthought at the session, it is notable in that Hawkins ignores almost all of the melody, only the first four bars are stated in a recognizable fashion. In its exploration of harmonic structure^[5] it is considered by many to be the next evolutionary step in jazz recording from where Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" in 1928 left off.

The bebop era[link]

Hawkins with Miles Davis at Three Deuces on 52nd Street in NYC, ca. July 1947. Photo: William P. Gottlieb.

After an unsuccessful attempt to establish a big band, he led a combo at Kelly's Stables on Manhattan's 52nd Street with Thelonious Monk, Oscar Pettiford, Miles Davis, and Max Roach as sidemen. Hawkins always had a keen ear for new talent and styles, and he was leader on what is generally considered the first ever bebop recording session with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach in 1944.^[6][7] Later he toured with Howard McGhee and recorded with J. J. Johnson and Fats Navarro. He also toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic.

In 1948 Hawkins recorded Picasso, an early piece for unaccompanied saxophone.

After 1948 Hawkins divided his time between New York and Europe, making numerous freelance recordings. In the 1960s, he appeared regularly at the Village Vanguard in Manhattan.

Hawkins directly influenced many bebop performers, and later in his career, recorded or performed with such adventurous musicians as Sonny Rollins, who considered him as his main influence, and John Coltrane. He appears on the Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Riverside) record. In 1960 he recorded on Max Roach's We Insist! - Freedom Now suite.^[2]

Later life[link]

The grave of Coleman Hawkins

In the 1950s, Hawkins performed with more traditional musicians such as Henry "Red" Allen and Roy Eldridge with whom he appeared at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival and recorded Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster with fellow tenor saxophonist Ben Webster along with Oscar Peterson (piano), Herb Ellis (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums).

In the 1960s, Hawkins began to drink heavily and his recording output began to wane. However, he did manage to record some notable albums with musicians such as Duke Ellington, among others. His last recording was in 1967.

With failing health, Hawkins succumbed to pneumonia in 1969 and is interred in the Yew Plot at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.^[2]

The Song of the Hawk, a 1990 biography written by British jazz historian John Chilton, chronicles Hawkins's career as one of the influential jazz performers of the 20th century.

Discography[link]

"Chicago"--Decca # 661--1935 "Netcha's Dream"--Decca--# 661--1935

As leader[link]

• Body and Soul (1939–1956, RCA)
• Picasso (album) (1948)
• The Hawk in Paris (1956, RCA Victor Gold)
• The Hawk Flies High (1957)
• Bean Bags (Atlantic, 1958)
• Hawk Eyes! (1959)
• In a Mellow Tone (1960)
• Bean Stalkin' (1960)
• At Ease with Coleman Hawkins (1960), Rerelease (1985) OJC-181
• Night Hawk (1961, with Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Swingville)
• The Hawk Relaxes (1961, Moodsville)
• Good Old Broadway (1962, Moodsville)
• Alive! (1962)
• Sonny Meets Hawk! with Sonny Rollins (1963)
• Sirius (1966)
• Jazz Reunion (with Pee Wee Russell, Candid Records)

Impulse! Records

• 1962: Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
• 1962: Today and Now
• 1962: Desafinado
• 1965: Wrapped Tight

Pablo Records

• 1967: The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World

Verve Records

• 1957: Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster
• 1957: The Genius of Coleman Hawkins
• 1958: Coleman Hawkins and Confreres
• 1962: Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive at the Village Gate

As sideman[link]

With Abbey Lincoln

• Straight Ahead (Candid, 1961)

With Shelly Manne

• 2-3-4 (Impulse!, 1962)

With Thelonious Monk

• Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Riverside, 1957)

With Max Roach

• We Insist! - Freedom Now (Candid, 1960)

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Coleman Hawkins

• Internet Movie Database
• BookRags biography
• The Red Hot Jazz Archive biography
• Jazz for Beginners biography
• Coleman Hawkins Legacy Jazz Festival
• Coleman Hawkins at Find a Grave

Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker with Tommy Potter, Max Roach and Miles Davis at Three Deuces, New York, NY
Background information
Birth name	Charles Parker, Jr.
Also known as	Bird, Yardbird, Zoizeau (in France)[1]
Born	(1920-08-29)August 29, 1920 Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.
Died	March 12, 1955(1955-03-12) (aged 34) New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, bebop
Occupations	Saxophonist, composer
Instruments	Alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Years active	1937–1955
Labels	Savoy, Dial, Verve
Website	www.cmgww.com/music/parker/
Notable instruments
Buescher, Conn, King and Grafton alto saxophones

Charles Parker, Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), also known as Yardbird and Bird,^[2] was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.

Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" early in his career^[3] and the shortened form, "Bird", which continued to be used for the rest of his life, inspiring the titles of a number of Parker compositions, such as "Yardbird Suite", "Ornithology", "Bird Gets the Worm", and "Bird of Paradise."

Parker was a highly influential jazz soloist and a leading figure in the development of bebop^[4], a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique, and improvisation. Parker introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas, including rapidly passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. His tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber. Many Parker recordings demonstrate virtuosic technique and complex melodic lines, combining jazz with other musical genres, including blues, Latin, and classical.

Parker was an icon for the hipster subculture and later the Beat Generation, personifying the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual, rather than an entertainer.

Biography[link]

Childhood[link]

Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, the only child of Charles and Addie Parker. Parker attended Lincoln High School.^[5] He enrolled in September 1934 and withdrew in December 1935, just before joining the local Musicians Union.

Parker began playing the saxophone at age 11, and at age 14 joined his school's band using a rented school instrument. His father, Charles, was often absent but provided some musical influence; he was a pianist, dancer and singer on the T.O.B.A. circuit. He later became a Pullman waiter or chef on the railways. Parker's mother Addie worked nights at the local Western Union office. His biggest influence at that time was a young trombone player who taught him the basics of improvisation^{[citation needed]}.

Early career[link]

In the late thirties Parker began to practice diligently. During this period he mastered improvisation and developed some of the ideas that led to bebop. In an interview with Paul Desmond, he said that he spent 3–4 years practicing up to 15 hours a day.^[6]

Bands led by Count Basie and Bennie Moten undoubtedly influenced Parker. He played with local bands in jazz clubs around Kansas City, Missouri, where he perfected his technique, with the assistance of Buster Smith, whose dynamic transitions to double and triple time influenced Parker's developing style.

In 1938, Parker joined pianist Jay McShann's territory band.^[7] The band toured nightclubs and other venues of the southwest, as well as Chicago and New York City.^[8][9] Parker made his professional recording debut with McShann's band.

As a teenager, Parker developed a morphine addiction while in the hospital, after an automobile accident, and subsequently became addicted to heroin. He continued using heroin throughout his life, which ultimately contributed to his death.

New York City[link]

In 1939 Parker moved to New York City, to pursue a career in music. He held several other jobs as well. He worked for nine dollars a week as a dishwasher at Jimmie's Chicken Shack, where pianist Art Tatum performed^{[citation needed]}

In 1942 Parker left McShann's band and played with Earl Hines for one year, whose band included Dizzy Gillespie, who later played with Parker as a duo. Unfortunately, this period is virtually undocumented, due to the strike of 1942–1943 by the American Federation of Musicians, during which time few recordings were made. Parker joined a group of young musicians, and played in after-hours clubs in Harlem, such as Clark Monroe's Uptown House and Minton's Playhouse. These young iconoclasts included Gillespie, pianist Thelonious Monk, guitarist Charlie Christian, and drummer Kenny Clarke. The beboppers' attitude was summed up in a famous quotation attributed to Monk by Mary Lou Williams: "We wanted a music that they couldn't play"^[10] – "they" being the white bandleaders who had usurped and profited from swing music. The group played in venues on 52nd Street, including Three Deuces and The Onyx. While in New York City, Parker studied with his music teacher, Maury Deutsch.

Bebop[link]

According to an interview Parker gave in the 1950s, one night in 1939, he was playing "Cherokee" in a jam session with guitarist William "Biddy" Fleet when he hit upon a method for developing his solos that enabled one of his main musical innovations. He realized that the twelve tones of the chromatic scale can lead melodically to any key, breaking some of the confines of simpler jazz soloing.

Early in its development, this new type of jazz was rejected by many of the established, traditional jazz musicians who disdained their younger counterparts. The beboppers responded by calling these traditionalists "moldy figs". However, some musicians, such as Coleman Hawkins and Benny Goodman, were more positive about its development, and participated in jam sessions and recording dates in the new approach with its adherents.

Because of the two-year Musicians' Union ban of all commercial recordings from 1942 to 1944, much of bebop's early development was not captured for posterity. As a result, it gained limited radio exposure. Bebop musicians had a difficult time gaining widespread recognition. It was not until 1945, when the recording ban was lifted, that Parker's collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Bud Powell and others had a substantial effect on the jazz world. One of their first (and greatest) small-group performances together was rediscovered and issued in 2005: a concert in New York's Town Hall on June 22, 1945. Bebop soon gained wider appeal among musicians and fans alike.

On November 26, 1945, Parker led a record date for the Savoy label, marketed as the "greatest Jazz session ever." The tracks recorded during this session include "Ko-Ko" and "Now's the Time".

Shortly afterwards, the Parker/Gillespie band traveled to an unsuccessful engagement at Billy Berg's club in Los Angeles. Most of the group returned to New York, but Parker remained in California, cashing in his return ticket to buy heroin. He experienced great hardship in California, eventually being committed to Camarillo State Mental Hospital for a six-month period.

Addiction[link]

Parker's chronic addiction to heroin caused him to miss gigs and lose work. He frequently resorted to busking on the streets, receiving loans from fellow musicians and admirers, and pawning his saxophones, for drug money. Heroin use was rampant in the jazz scene and the drug could be acquired easily.

Although he produced many brilliant recordings during this period, Parker's behavior became increasingly erratic. Heroin was difficult to obtain when he moved to California, where the drug was less abundant, and Parker began to drink heavily to compensate for it. A recording for the Dial label from July 29, 1946, provides evidence of his condition. Prior to this session, Parker drank a quart of whiskey. According to the liner notes of Charlie Parker on Dial Volume 1, Parker missed most of the first two bars of his first chorus on the track, "Max Making Wax." When he finally did come in, he swayed wildly and once spun all the way around, away from his microphone. On the next tune, "Lover Man", producer Ross Russell physically supported Parker. On "Bebop" (the final track Parker recorded that evening) he begins a solo with a solid first eight bars. On his second eight bars, however, Parker begins to struggle, and a desperate Howard McGhee, the trumpeter on this session, shouts, "Blow!" at Parker. Charles Mingus considered this version of "Lover Man" to be among Parker's greatest recordings, despite its flaws.^[11] Nevertheless, Parker hated the recording and never forgave Ross Russell for releasing it. He re-recorded the tune in 1951 for Verve.

When Parker was released from the hospital, he was clean and healthy, and proceeded to do some of the best playing and recording of his career. He converted to Islam in the manner of the Ahmadiyya movement in the US.^[12] Before leaving California, he recorded "Relaxin' at Camarillo", in reference to his hospital stay. He returned to New York, resumed his addiction to heroin and recorded dozens of sides for the Savoy and Dial labels, which remain some of the high points of his recorded output. Many of these were with his so-called "classic quintet" including trumpeter Miles Davis and drummer Max Roach.