. The KoKo session, happened on November 26, 1945 at the WOR Studios for Savoy Records in New York City, was one of those just-about-supernatural recording dates seemingly shrouded with overflowing magical elements.  It was undoubtedly a breakthrough in jazz alto saxophonist Charlie Parker’s music career as Bird was given his very first opportunity to serve as a band leader in an official studio recording session.  The impact of this recording session was far-reaching as the commercial release of Parker’s music soon accelerated the revolution of modern jazz.  Teddy Reig, the producer of this recording date, comments on the influence of the release, stating that “in maybe six months it was like The Bible.”¹

Phew. So I guess that only the opening line from Dreamworks animation Kung Fu Panda --- “Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend...” --- can adequately depict the awesomeness surrounding this recording date (with young Harry Potter yelling Expecto Patronum in the background, of course). Phew.

Parker’s first record date under his own name was a curious reflection of his own personality: random, disorganized, occasionally touching genius...

--- Alyn Shipton

However.......(and I know that you have been patiently waiting for this particular "however" to come-out-and-play for few seconds now)......back in 1945 and that good-old-era of modern jazz, the proceedings of that mystical KoKo session were more-than-a-little-bit of chaotic.  Some issues regarding the personnel had to be dealt with.  Parker initially chose trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Bud Powell, bassist Curly Russell, and drummer Max Roach to form the group.  However, Powell was house-shopping with his mom that morning so some alterations had to be made as James Patrick cited that:

On the 26^th, Reig went to Parker’s apartment to bring Bird to WOR and was informed that Powell had gone with his mother to Philadelphia where she was buying a house.  No need to worry, however; Dizzy Gillespie was present and was introduced to Reig.  Parker also had contacted pianist Argonne Thornton, who had played on Dexter Gordon’s September date for Savoy, and asked that he appear at the studio. ²

Then, Parker had to leave the recording studio to fix some mechanical problems of his alto saxophone and Davis was absent in some takes during this standard three-hour recording session.  Moreover, confusions caused by shifting between Gillespie and Thornton on piano and musicians’ unfamiliarity with some of Parker’s original compositions also reflect less-than-positively on Parker’s skill as a leader.  Alyn Shipton comments on the disordered modus operandi in the KoKo session:

. . . Parker’s first record date under his own name was a curious reflection of his own personality: random, disorganized, occasionally touching genius, but ultimately reliant on his own spur-of-the-moment instrumental and improvisatory prowess to illuminate a group of fairly unsophisticated head arrangements.³

­In spite of the disorganization, several tracks recorded in this session soon became definitive samples of the modern jazz, including classics such as Billie’s Bounce, Now’s the Time, and KoKo.  Billie’s Bounce is worth mentioning.  It considerably differs from Now’s the Time in the aspect of its thematic material.  However, as these two compositions share the same tonal center and the harmonic syntax, Parker frequently employed improvisational lines from the master take of Billie’s Bounce and occasionally quoted the thematic material of it in his performances on Now’s the Time.  As the thematic material of Billie’s Bounce, based upon the progressive idiom, was comparatively demanding and the musicians seemed to be unacquainted with it, the composition consequently required four takes before an acceptable master take was produced.  Charlie Parker scholar Thomas Owens cites that:

The complete record of the session reveals the difficulty the players had in producing a respectable product.  Billie’s Bounce was the first piece attempted at the session, and the musicians lacked inspiration.  The first three takes are marred by poor piano introductions by Gillespie, technical mistakes by Davis, reed squawks by Parker, and an unsteady rhythm section unable to maintain the starting tempo.⁴

Although both Billie’s Bounce and Now’s the Time have been considered as jazz classics,⁵ Parker seemed to perform Now’s the Time more regularly. Compared to the twenty-three versions of Now’s the Time, there are only eight surviving versions of Billie’s Bounce, while five of them were recorded during the KoKo session.  The degree of difficulty of the thematic material might be one of the contributing factors.  Unlike Billie’s Bounce, the riff-based Now’s the Time can be easily mastered and consequently provides a desirable platform for the jam session situation.  Indubitably, Parker’s own preference should be taken into consideration.  Furthermore, as the last surviving version of Billie’s Bounce was recorded in 1951, six years after the KoKo session, the possibility that the composition might be performed with a greater frequency but the performances were simply not documented cannot be overlooked.

Bird reportedly composed Billie’s Bounce the morning of the recording date.  This piece of information is disputed by trumpeter Benny Bailey’s claim that “Miles’ solo on the issued take of Billie’s Bounce was a note-for-note copy of a solo that he had heard Freddie Webster play on that tune,”⁶ suggesting that Parker might have performed it prior the KoKo session.  However, although Webster’s influence on young Davis has been frequently cited, the accuracy of Bailey’s claim cannot be independently confirmed.

The thematic material of Now’s the Time demanded relatively lower technical proficiency.  However, it still took three takes before Parker’s group could produce an acceptable master take.  James Patrick comments on the proceedings of Now’s the Time in the KoKo session:

Now’s the Time presents much less trouble.  Dizzy’s Monkish introduction begins all four takes.  After two false starts, a slightly slower tempo is adopted.  Take three has a fine Bird solo featuring a paraphrase of the theme.  Take four, however, is a classic with great Bird, good comping by Dizzy, and a first rate solo by Davis.  Although this was not  Miles’ first record date, this is his debut as a soloist.⁷

Davis’ performance in Now’s the Time has often been harshly criticized.  However, his debut as a soloist did exhibit his potential as a jazz improviser.  Jazz scholar Lawrence Koch cites that “Miles, although uncertain at times, puts together some spare choruses that abound in ingenious usages of the flatted fifth and other dissonance.”⁸ Koch also cites that Gillespie’s piano accompaniment coordinated with Davis’ “altered melody lines,”⁹ indicating Davis’ high level of proficiency at improvising on the altered chord.

Four takes of Now’s the Time were recorded during the KoKo session.  Those takes are also the few recorded materials of Now’s the Time including both Parker and Gillespie.  The latter was on piano during all four takes of Now’s the Time.

In my little study of Charlie Parker’s music "“Charlie Parker: The Analytical Study of Twenty-Two Performance Versions of Now's The Time", the reissue that is used as the primary source for these four versions of Now’s the Time is Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings (1944-1948).¹⁰ This major reissue, produced by the renowned producer Orrin Keepnews, not only contains a complete set of Charlie Parker’s works in the recording studio setting for Savoy Records and Dial Records, it also presents the latest discographical research, including “Gitler On Parker” by Ira Gitler, “The Savoy Recordings” by James Patrick, “The Dail, Guild, Bel-Tone and Comet Recordings” by Bill Kirchner, and “The Teddy Reig Interviews” by Bob Porter.  Both Patrick and Porter’s work offer discographical accounts of the KoKo session in which the first four surviving versions of Now’s the Time were produced.  The latter is especially valuable as the accounts, although the accuracy of some of them have been questioned by scholars, were given by Teddy Reig, who was the producer of the KoKo session.  Numerous reissues of Now’s the Time performances recorded in the KoKo session are commercially available now, however, most reissues, such as Charlie Parker Vol. 1 (1945-1947): The Alternative Takes in Chronological Order released by Neatwork Records,¹¹ lack comprehensive documentation and included discographical information is often erroneous.¹² In contrast, a detailed and authoritative discography of all Charlie Parker recording sessions for Savoy Records and Dial Records is included in Savoy 92911-2.  Additionally, the tracks, digitally transferred and mastered by Paul Reid III, represent a high standard of audio quality, consequently accelerating the transcription process.

*NOTE: This article is based on materials and information presented in “Charlie Parker: The Analytical Study of Twenty-Two Performance Versions of Now's The Time”.

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