CD 1 - Track 2 CHARLIE PARKER, "The Song is You" Charlie Parker was going through a rough time both personally and professionally when he went into the studio to record "The Song Is You" in the winter of 1952-53, and the session itself started out with a lot of dissonance. Max Roach, the drummer on the date, recalls that Charlie had several disagreements with pianist Hank Jones and also one of his recurrent blowups with the producer Norman Granz. "Norman Granz might come into the studio to suggest to Bird an idea for the piece Bird was doing," Max told Phil Schaap. "He'd come in and say, 'Well, Bird, can you do it this way?' and Bird would say, 'Get the fuck out of the studio!'" None of this is apparent in this classic performance. Playing with enormous enthusiasm, without so much as a four bar introduction to set the stage, Charlie hits the ground running, romping through Jerome Kern's gorgeous melody in his first chorus, then spinning out his own glorious variations in the second. The rhythm section flows behind him faultlessly, and whatever hassles they'd had earlier in the day are forgotten as Hank Jones joins in to contribute his own sparkling solo. The healing power of music! top

CD 2 - Track 6 MILES DAVIS, 'Tune Up" and "When Lights Are Low" Miles Davis recorded "Tune Up" and "When Lights Are Low" linked together without a break, the way he would play them in a nightclub set. Miles was credited as the composer of "Tune Up," although some years later the saxophonist and singer Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson claimed to have written it. "When Lights Are Low" was composed by the great alto player Benny Carter, whom Miles had worked with when he first started out. Miles had originally recorded both tunes in 1953, and they became part of his repertoire. He revisits them here in this October 1956 session with his classic quintet - Miles on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor and the peerless rhythm section of Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums - that over the course of its 27 month existence came to dominate the consciousness of jazz fans and musicians alike. "The music that we were playing together was unbelievable," Miles recalled in his autobiography. "It was so bad that it used to send chills through me at night, and it did the same thing to the audiences, too.. That group really put me on the map." This performance was recorded at a marathon session - 12 numbers, over two albums' worth of music in a single day - that completed Miles' contractual obligation to the relatively small Prestige label and allowed him to move on to a much more lucrative arrangement with the powerful Columbia record company. None of the pressure and fatigue the musicians must have been feeling are discernible in this cooking, yet utterly relaxed recording. "That was some great music," Miles said of the date, "and I'm real proud of it today." top