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 © New York Post |
Transcription :
New York
Jazz Concert
Lester Young, Charlie Parker
Oscar Peterson Heard
The ninth international tour of
"Jazz at the Philharmonic" brought is to Carnegie Hall
on Saturday night. Norman Granz,
founder and impressario of this attraction, is a young man of
decided ideas, both musically and socially. "Jazz at the
Philharmonic" has consistently advanced the idea of
"modernism" in jazz, and most of the present-day
movements, including bebop, germinated from this concert series.
Among the distinguished performances in this concert were those
of the tenor saxophonist Lester
Young and the altoist Charlie Parker. At their best their
invention is so continuous, inward and truly Negroid that they
become profoundly moving in spite, one might almost say, of the
music. This adds up, really, to the creative personality
transcending his surroundings. Certainly in the general
formlessness it is difficult to perceive a tradition like that of
New Orleans, which is workable for all grades of players, being
formulated. This music is ultimately selfish in that it is only
for the greatly gifted.
A new and gifted player presented Saturday night for the first
time in New York was a young and personable Negro pianist from
Montreal, Oscar Peterson. Under his dynamic and intensely
rhythmic hand, the scale work inanities were minimized and a most
exiciting invention took form.
Coleman Hawkins, veteran
founder of 'modern' saxophone style, played well, although
hampered by the inadequate backing of a small group. Appearing,
but unlisted on the program, was the trumpeter
Roy Eldridge, at least fifteen
years ago laid the basis for 'modern' jazz trumpet style. Among
the other musicians, the young white drummer Buddy Rich should be
mentioned for his prodigious technique expressed in an overpowering
dynamics. His best work is probably to be heard, however, in the
more relaxed moments when he is not on display.
The singer Ella Fitzgerald
was starred. Possessed of a fine voice and great vocal agility,
she is also an accomplished entertainer, but one who projects
little deep or personal feeling.
The evenings real stars, however, were Lester Young,
Oscar Peterson and Charlie Parker. Their work was at moments
deeply felt, so original and so affecting that one might wish that
it were being poured into something, with a better apparent chance
of permanence than 'modern' jazz.
R. B.
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