Parkeology 014: Dizzy Altitude

On the live recording of Charlie Parker at Town Hall in 1945, Bird plays in the altissimo a little bit. Several high A’s and on “Salt Peanuts” gets up to an altissimo D. I don’t recall ever hearing him play any altissimo on any other studio or live recordings. Does anyone know of any other recordings where he goes up, or was he just feeling extra frisky that day? – Posting by DukeCity on Sax on the Web

DukeCity raises an interesting point. Bird didn’t use the altissimo register (notes above the normal range of the saxophone) in the studio, unless you count high F-sharp, which doesn’t really qualify.

[All altissimo notes and keys are named in E-flat.]

Here’s an excerpt from the “Salt Peanuts” alluded to above, recorded live at Town Hall in NYC, on June 22, 1945.

First Dizzy plays an A, which Bird easily matches. Then Bird plays an altissimo D, as noted above, again matching Dizzy. When Dizzy tops it with an F, Bird slides up to an F of his own, or very close to it. This may be Bird’s highest altissimo note on record.  Presumably, he could play notes above it, but he never used the altissimo register for its own sake.

There’s a strikingly similar version of “Salt Peanuts” on a Royal Roost broadcast from December 12, 1948. It suggests this high note duel was a set routine, even though there’s nothing like it on the studio recording, nor in other performances from the Roost, nor at Massey Hall. Here, Bird is dueling with Miles, and the roles are reversed, Miles matching Bird.

It’s impossible to trace the origins of Bird’s altissimo playing because there are so few live recordings prior to 1945. Those that exist offer no clues. The closest we can get is the Jay McShann broadcast from the Apollo Ballroom, on February 13, 1942. Bird hits a high F-sharp in “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.”

Again, F-sharps don’t really count. I mention it mostly as a pretext to recommend this solo, which I consider to be Bird’s first indisputable masterpiece, saved by fate from oblivion (complete track below).

Live recordings of Bird proliferated from the mid-40s onward, and it’s now clear that he used altissimo notes when they made sense melodically.

Dean Benedetti recorded Bird at the Onyx Club in July of 1948, capturing Bird at his most surreal. (Some of these tracks were released on the Debut label as Bird on 52nd Street.) Bird pops out altissimo A’s whenever the mood strikes. These two examples come from “The Way You Look Tonight,” and “52nd Street Theme,” respectively.

He hits altissimo Bb on “Hot House.”

He hits an altissimo D on “Chasin’ The Bird.”

Other examples can be found on the Royal Roost broadcasts. After missing it on the first try, Bird hits an altissimo A on “Cheryl” (January 1, 1949).

Here’s yet another altissimo A, from “Hot House” (January 15, 1949).

It seems clear, at least anecdotally, that A was Bird’s most common altissimo note, and that D was his upper limit (unless prodded by Dizzy to greater heights).

Bird was adept at hitting altissimo B-flat, as well, and was inclined to do so when in the key of B-flat major. That’s the key for his “Groovin’ High” solo at Town Hall, in which he hits two of them.

These altissimo B-flats seem to require more effort to produce than altissimo A. For comparison, here’s an A from “Hot House,” which will also serve as a final piece of anecdotal evidence.

Bird appeared as a guest star with Dizzy’s band at Carnegie Hall, on September 29, 1947, a performance that bears a strong resemblance to the Town Hall concert. On that rendition of “Groovin’ High,” Bird doesn’t hit altissimo B-flat at all, opting instead for altissimo G. This can safely be considered his least common altissimo note, as long as you don’t count A-flat, examples of which I’ve yet to find.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Bird mastered the altissimo register for the express purpose of matching Dizzy’s high notes. Their musical association (and competition) began in earnest in late 1942, when they both joined the Earl Hines Orchestra. This may mark the starting point of Bird’s interest in the altissimo register, but there’s no evidence to support this notion. All it has going for it is plausibility.

In the last analysis, then, Bird uses the altissimo register sparingly. He uses it occasionally in live performance, when appropriate melodically, but never as an end in itself.  As for using it in the studio, he fits Mark Twain’s definition of a gentleman, slightly paraphrased.

A gentleman is someone who knows how to play altissimo notes and doesn’t.

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Here’s the complete “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.”