Jazz at Massey Hall

The first pianist considered by the organizers was Lennie Tristano, but he suggested Powell as a more appropriate match for the other musicians.{{cite book|title= Lennie Tristano – His Life in Music|first= Eunmi|last= Shim|publisher= University of Michigan Press|year= 2007|pages=86–87|isbn= 978-0-472-11346-0}} Oscar Pettiford was considered as an alternative to Mingus.

Parker played a Grafton saxophone on this date; he could not be listed on the original album cover for contractual reasons, so was billed as "Charlie Chan", an allusion to the fictional detective and to Parker's wife Chan. The concert included performances by both the entire quintet and a trio consisting of Powell, Mingus, and Roach, as well as a Roach drum solo.

The original plan was for the Toronto New Jazz Society and the musicians to share the profits from the concert. However, owing to a boxing prize fight between Rocky Marciano and Jersey Joe Walcott taking place simultaneously, the audience was so small that the Society was unable to pay the musicians' fees. The musicians were all given NSF checks, and only Parker was able to cash his; Gillespie noted that he did not receive his fee "for years and years".{{cite book |last=Shipton |first=Alyn |title=Groovin' High: The Life of Dizzy Gillespie |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |pages=252 }}

Jazz authority Burt Korall says that for Roach, this performance was a "culmination on record of music and relationships developed in the 1940s." Despite the difficulties, according to Korall, "the music was the great leveler."

{{cite book

| last = Korall

| first = Burt

| date = 2004

| title = Drummin' Men: The Heartbeat of Jazz: The Bebop Years

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NijRCwAAQBAJ

| publisher = Oxford University Press, USA

| page = 103

| isbn = 9780195346510

}}

The opening act on the night was a 16-piece big band billed as the CBC All Stars.{{cite news

| last = Goodstein

| first = Jack

| date = May 1, 2012

| title = Music Review: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Charles Mingus - The Quintet: Jazz at Massey Hall [Remastered]

| url = https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Music-Review-Charlie-Parker-Dizzy-Gillespie-3525715.php

| work = Seattle PI

| via = Blogcritics

| access-date = 2023-07-14

}}

The record was originally issued in December 1953{{cite magazine|title=Down Beat's' Five Star Discs|magazine=DownBeat|date=December 30, 1953|page=1|quote=The following records represent the cream of the last two weeks' crop.{{nbsp}}... Jazz at Massey Hall.}} on Mingus's label Debut, from a recording made by the Toronto New Jazz Society (Dick Wattam, Alan Scharf, Roger Feather, Boyd Raeburn and Arthur Granatstein).{{cite web|url=https://stewarthoffmanmusic.com/charlie-parker-massey-hall/|title=Charlie Parker - Massey Hall|last=loosemoose|date=5 September 2017|access-date=14 May 2019}}{{cite web |last=Abocar |first=Amran |date=May 20, 2003 |title=Canada Relives 'Greatest' Jazz Concert after 50 Years |url=http://www.ejazznews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1253&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 |website=E Jazz News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030607141051/http://ejazznews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1253&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 |archive-date=June 7, 2003 }} Mingus took the recording to New York where he and Max Roach dubbed in the bass lines, which were under-recorded on most of the tunes, and exchanged Mingus soloing on "All the Things You Are".

A 2002 reissue, Complete Jazz at Massey Hall, released on The Jazz Factory label, contains the full concert, without the overdubbing.[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r689865|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic.com "Complete Jazz at Massey Hall"]

Jazz at Massey Hall was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995.[http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame Grammy Hall of Fame Database] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122042616/http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |date=2011-01-22 }} It is included in National Public Radio's "Basic Jazz Library".{{Cite news| last = Horwitz | first = Murray |author2=A. B. Spellman | title = Charlie Parker: 'Jazz at Massey Hall' | newspaper = NPR.org | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4184802 | date = 2005-06-23 | access-date = 2008-10-11}} The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings included the album in its suggested "core collection" of essential recordings. The concert was issued in some territories under the tag "the greatest jazz concert ever".

(Originally issued as two 10" LPs:)

Vol. 1 (Debut DLP-2)

1. "Perdido" (Juan Tizol) – 7:43
2. "Salt Peanuts" (Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke) – 7:39
3. "All the Things You Are" (Jerome Kern)/"52nd Street Theme" (Thelonious Monk) – 7:52

Vol. 3 (Debut DLP-4)

1. "Wee (Allen's Alley)" (Denzil Best) – 6:41
2. "Hot House" (Tadd Dameron) – 9:11
3. "A Night in Tunisia" (Gillespie, Frank Paparelli) – 7:34

(Vol. 2 consists of the trio recordings of Powell, Mingus and Roach from the same date: all but "I've Got You Under My Skin", and one track by Billy Taylor with Mingus and Roach from a later date.)

(Issued as 12" LP:)

(Debut DEB-124)

1. "Perdido" (Juan Tizol)
2. "Salt Peanuts" (Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke)
3. "All the Things You Are" (Jerome Kern)
4. "52nd Street Theme" (Thelonious Monk)
5. "Wee (Allen's Alley)" (Denzil Best)
6. "Hot House" (Tadd Dameron)
7. "A Night in Tunisia" (Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)

(The 2004 reissue contains fourteen tracks, of which nos. 5 through 11 are without Parker and Gillespie:)

1. "Perdido" (Juan Tizol)
2. "Salt Peanuts" (Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke)
3. "All the Things You Are" (Jerome Kern)
4. "52nd Street Theme" (Thelonious Monk)
5. "Drum Conversation" (Max Roach)
6. "Cherokee" (Ray Noble)
7. "Embraceable You" (George Gershwin)
8. "Hallelujah (Jubilee)" (Vincent Youmans)
9. "Sure Thing" (Bud Powell)
10. "Lullaby of Birdland" (George Shearing)
11. "I've Got You Under My Skin" (Cole Porter)
12. "Wee (Allen's Alley)" (Denzil Best)
13. "Hot House" (Tadd Dameron)
14. "A Night in Tunisia" (Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)

Tracks 5 through 11 are without Parker and Gillespie.

• Dizzy Gillespie – trumpet, vocal on "Salt Peanuts"
• Charles Mingus – double bass
• Charlie Parker – alto saxophone
• Bud Powell – piano
• Max Roach – drums

An album of a trio set, played by Powell, Mingus and Roach at the concert, was also issued (tracks 6 through 11 above).{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/jazz-at-massey-hall-vol-2-mw0000267732 |title=Bud Powell: Jazz at Massey Hall, Vol. 2 |first=Bob |last=Rusch |website=AllMusic |access-date=January 9, 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

• Mark Miller. [https://books.google.com/books?id=CAHaAAAAMAAJ Cool Blues: Charlie Parker in Canada 1953]. London, Ontario: Nightwood Editions, 1989. (contains the definitive account of the concert events)
• Richard Cook and Brian Morton. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rbK3QSwQy6QC The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD] 6th edition. {{ISBN|0-14-051521-6}}, 2008.
• Geoffrey Haydon. Quintet of the Year, London: Aurum Press, 2002. {{cite web|url=http://jazzontherecord.blogspot.com/2013/05/salt-peanuts-salt-peanuts-massey-hall.html|title=Easy does it: SALT PEANUTS!!! SALT PEANUTS!!! – Massey Hall, 60 years after|first=Fernando Ortiz De|last=Urbina|date=15 May 2013}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20030607141051/http://ejazznews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1253&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 50th Anniversary of Jazz at Massey Hall celebration]

{{Dizzy Gillespie}}

{{Charlie Parker}}

{{Bud Powell}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1953 live albums

Category:Bud Powell albums

Category:Charles Mingus live albums

Category:Charlie Parker albums

Category:Dizzy Gillespie live albums

Category:Max Roach live albums

Category:Albums produced by Charles Mingus

Category:Albums recorded at Massey Hall

Category:America Records live albums

Category:Debut Records live albums

Category:Original Jazz Classics albums

Category:Live album series

Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients