Chasin' the Bird (Remastered) Supersax
- 1Shaw Nuff04:25
- 2A Night in Tunesia06:07
- 3Drifting on a Reed (Big Foot)05:05
- 4The Song Is You03:56
- 5Oop Bop Sh'bam04:14
- 6'Round Midnight03:32
- 7Now's the Time03:37
- 8Dizzy Atmosphere05:21
- 9Chasin' the Bird03:40
Info for Chasin' the Bird (Remastered)
After Louis Armstrong, alto saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker was arguably the most important innovator in jazz. His creativity and virtuosity revolutionized the music and ushered in the modern era. The Grammy award-winning group Supersax were a group of ace LA musicians who dedicated themselves to transcribing and playing Parker’s solos – a prodigious task that allows for a new listen to some of Bird’s masterful improvisations. Two altos, two tenors, and a baritone sax take on the challenge. The nine tracks concentrate on originals from Parker and fellow iconoclast Dizzy Gillespie. Supersax take Parker’s solo at lightning speed on Shaw ‘Nuff, while on the Gillespie classic Night In Tunisia they take on one of the most famous saxophone breaks in jazz in stride. A pristine Solo by trumpeter Blue Mitchell graces the piece. Drifting On A Reed is a super hip bebop blues with Bird’s quintessential blues solo. Trombone maestro Frank Rosolino demonstrates how bop is played on that instrument. There is the iconic Parker blues Now’s The Time, as well as the stratospheric sax lines on Gillespie’s Dizzy Atmosphere. It all ends with what musicians have been doing for more than a half century: Chasin’ The Bird. It’s high time this album re-emerges to fly again. It just goes to prove – Bird Lives – he’s a Phoenix.
Joe Lopes, alto saxophone (on tracks 1 to 9)
Lanny Morgan, alto saxophone (on tracks 10)
Med Flory, alto saxophone
Jack Nimitz, baritone saxophone
Don Menza, tenor saxophone (on track 10)
Jay Migliori, tenor saxophone (on tracks 1 to 9)
Warne Marsh, tenor saxophone (on tracks 1 to 9)
Frank Rosolino, trombone (on tracks 3, 4, 5, 7, 10)
Blue Mitchell, trumpet (on tracks 2, 9)
Conte Candoli, trumpet (on tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, 10)
Lou Levy, piano
Fred Atwood, bass
Jake Hanna, drums (on tracks 1, 4 to 9)
John Dentz, drums (on tracks 2, 3, 10)
Produced by Hanns Georg Brunner-Schwer, Maurice Lathouwers, Med Flory
Digitally remastered
Supersax
was a jazz group created in 1972 by saxophonist Med Flory and bassist Buddy Clark, in tribute to iconic bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker. The group’s music consisted of harmonized arrangements of Charlie Parker improvisations played by a saxophone section (2 altos, 2 tenors, and a baritone), and a rhythm section (bass, piano and drums). Among the top sidemen through the years have been Bill Perkins, Warne Marsh, Jay Migliori, Jack Nimitz and Lanny Morgan.
Their recordings for Capitol, MPS, and Columbia (unlike their live performances) did not contain any individual saxophone solos and found the sax section playing note-for-note Bird improvisations (including the roller-coaster “Ko Ko”) with impressive precision. Clark left the band in 1975, but Flory continued the group on a part-time basis for several decades, sometimes using the L.A. Voices. Notable brass soloists that recorded with the group included Conte Candoli (trumpet), Frank Rosolino (trombone) and Carl Fontana (trombone).
The idea for celebrating the creativity of Parker goes back to 1956. According to Flory, he began transcribing the solos from a set of records that were sold to him by the alto saxophonist Joe Maini. He wrote three arrangements and Flory, Maini, Joe Kennedy, Richie Kamuca and Bill Hood ran them down for fun. Bassist Buddy Clark heard them and suggested Flory create a whole book of such solos. But it wasnt until the early 70s that Supersax really came together.
Flory and company rehearsed in his home for over a year until Florys wife finally suggested that they play at a club in Los Angeles called Dontes. The reception was phenomenal, and the group soon made its first album, Supersax Plays Bird for Capitol Records. Supersax toured all over the world and has recorded nine albums to date; in 1974, they won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Group.
Med Flory
alto saxophonist and founder of the Grammy-winning jazz group Supersax, passed away on March 12, 2014 at the age of 87 at his home in North Hollywood, California. In a career stretching over six decades, alto saxophonist and actor Med Flory was successful in two creatively demanding arenas.
He was born Meredith Irwin Flory on Aug. 27, 1926, in Logansport, Ind., to Florence and Wilmer Flory. He began clarinet lessons when he was 9 and joined his high school concert band when he was 12. It was his mother who provided the model that led him into music as a possible career.
After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, Flory graduated from Indiana University with a B.A. in philosophy and went to New York, where he worked with his own small groups as well as the big bands of Woody Herman and Claude Thornhill. He moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s, becoming involved with the arrival of cool jazz on the West Coast. Meeting and performing with players such as Art Pepper, Buddy Clark and Joe Maini, he planted the seeds for the eventual creation of Supersax.
Med Flory has enjoyed both a profitable music career and successful stints as a television and film writer and actor. His alto sax and clarinet work are deeply influenced by the classic bebop sound, notably the playing of Charlie Parker. Though he doesn’t directly emulate Parker, Flory’s sound, phrasing and approach reflect his reverence for his music.
He played clarinet and alto with Claude Thornhill in the ’50s, and tenor with Woody Herman. Flory formed his own New York band in 1954, then moved to the West Coast two years later. He organized a big band that performed at the inaugural Monterey concert in 1958. Flory played with Terry Gibbs’ nonet and orchestra in the late ’50s and early ’60s, recording with both units and also cutting sessions with Art Pepper and Herman on baritone.
Flory’s acting career blossomed in the ’60s, as he began appearing on many television shows and in films. He also wrote screenplays and trimmed his playing dates. During Flory’s sessions with Pepper, the sax section played arrangements of Parker improvisations. Flory and Joe Maini began transcribing the solos, but after Maini’s death in 1964 Flory stopped the process. When Buddy Clark showed interest, Flory not only began transcribing again, he co-formed a band with Clark to play the material. Supersax began in 1972 and won a Grammy for its debut recording the next year. Flory became the sole leader when Clark departed in 1975, and maintained its operation into the ’80s.
This album contains no booklet.