The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall, Vol. 1 (1953)


This is one of the baddest jazz records ever. It's the last time Gillespie and Parker recorded together, and rest of the quintet is the best there is- Roach, Powell, and Mingus. Bird is playing a really mediocre plastic sax called a grafton (he had a habit of pawning his horn for smack, even hours before a gig) but he makes it sing anyway. You also get a sense of what a fucking hipster Diz was back then in some of the chatter between tracks. All in all, a fantastic record.

2 Responses so far.

  1. Anonymous says:

    This is awesome, thank you. However, I noticed that some of the track names are incorrect, check Wikipedia's page on the album for the correct track listing.

  2. Lane says:

    yeah, the metadata is a little funky, but they're in order.

    1. Perdido
    2. Salt Peanuts
    3. All the Things You Are/52nd St. theme
    4. Wee (Allen's Alley)
    5. Hot House
    6. A Night in Tunisia

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