Acetate recording - photo 1

Acetate recording

Lot 521
29.09.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 3 528
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1029173
Lot 521 | Acetate recording
Estimate value
£ 1 200 – 1 800
PARKER, Charles “Charlie,” Jr. (1920-1955).

A 16-inch direct-to-disc master acetate of a major Afro-Cuban jazz session organised by producer Norman Granz with Charlie Parker and the Machito Orchestra, likely recorded on 21 December 1950 in New York, with trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison, saxophonist Flip Phillips and drummer Buddy Rich, the recording featuring six tracks of Arturo “Chico” O’Farrill’s eight-part Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite, the track listing matching that of the album Machito - Afro-Cuban Jazz: The Music Of Chico O'Farrill (Clef MGC-689), on which Parker plays on Mambo, on the closing bars of 6/8, and on the standout Jazz, where he memorably trades fours with Flip Phillips

Granz's biographer Tad Hershorn relates: ‘[Granz] signed Charlie Parker onto his Clef series on Mercury Records in November 1948 and was soon free to include him on recordings he produced with the Cuban master Machito and his later sessions with one of the foremost composers and arrangers in Cubop, Arturo “Chico” O’Farrill… Surprisingly, Parker’s recordings with Machito and later O’Farrill succeeded despite his disinclination to adapt his phrasing to their style…. Despite Parker’s reputation for unpredictability, Machito said that he was always prompt to the sessions and that playing with Parker was the highlight of his career’. Hershorn, 115-131.

As magnetic tape superseded direct-to-disc as the dominant recording format, Granz transferred his masters to tape, and the original lacquers were shelved. Horrified at the request to dispose of the superfluous session acetates in the late 1960s, Granz's then assistant Eric Miller requested to keep them, to which Granz replied ‘Sure, it’ll give you something to do in your retirement.’

16-inch double-sided acetate, the disc unlabelled, with original Soundcraft brown paper sleeve variously and incorrectly annotated; accompanied by Eric Miller’s handwritten track listing and session personnel notes. Provenance: Norman Granz (1918-2001; record producer) – Eric Miller (1941-2017; Granz's assistant and protégé).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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