Recordings from a bop dream team in concert at Toronto's Massey Hall on 15 May 1953, with some later bass overdubs. Bird & Diz, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach - what more to say, really, about a lineup like that? The audience might have been diminished due to being scheduled against a boxing prize fight, but this a heavyweight championship in its own right. Six classic tunes give everyone a chance to land punches, from the opening swing of Perdido, a red hot Salt Peanuts where Gillespie's clearly having fun, to a lengthy Hot House where Mingus and Roach stretch out, and more. An essential landmark in 50s jazz.
pw: sgtg
