Charlie Parker Trio Kansas City Acetates Sep. 1942

A crucial element of any study of the development of the Parkerian art comes in the form of four acetates Bird cut in the Vic Damon Studios, Kansas City, in September 1942. Backed by his old friend Efferge Ware on guitar and the very discreet Little Phil Philips on drums, he uses Ive Found a New Baby, Body and Soul and My Heart Tells Me to play clear but final tribute to his three main mentors: Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and (that paragon of classic alto) Johnny Hodges. Cherokee, however, signals the birth of a genius in his own right, and in far more conclusive manner than had the earlier rendering of the same piece at Monroes. Parker made a gift of these discs to his great friend, Charles White. Drummer Little Phil Philips is audible only on Cherokee and Ive Found a New Baby. The latter piece pays a double tribute to Lester Young: first, during the first chorus, there is a quotation from the famous Prez composition, Tickle Toe; then, in the third chorus, comes a notebynote repeat of