The medley consists of four additional versions, in chronological order. The first is from the November 26th 1945 Savoy Records date that produced Billie’s Bounce, Now’s The Time, Thriving From A Riff (Anthropology) andthe uptempo masterpiece, Ko Ko.This version of Embraceable You was released as Meandering, and it was captured without Bird’s knowledge. Bird and Teddy Reig, Savoy’s A&R man, had just returned from a visit to Bird’s repairman (Reig: “We went to 48th Street off 6th. There was this little guy in the back next to Manny’s. He was Bird’s man-he took care of Bird’s horn.”). Bird and Dizzy (on piano!) played through a chorus Embraceable You to check out the repair job, just prior to recording Ko Ko, which concluded the session.
The second version is Take B from the October 28th 1947 , which is the take that was originally released. Take A, released later as an alternate take, is the version that has received so much critical attention. Take B is slightly faster and structured in an entirely different manner. It serves to refute the cliche, parroted by many critics, that Bird refined his ideas as takes progressed, leading up to the master take. This is exactly what Bird didn’t do, and it was the hallmark of his genius. Each solo was a world of its own.
The third version comes from the September 17th 1949 Jazz at the Philharmonic concert. It’s a particularly valuable solo, despite being a bit sharp and chirpy. At certain times, both in the studio and out, Bird had to wrestle to control squeaky reeds. These chirps spoiled many a take, and it’s unclear why Bird, known for his skill at crafting reeds, couldn’t mitigate this. In any case, this JATP performance demonstrates his ability to shut out everything extraneous and enter an internal world where only music exists. He bides his time through the chain of solos that precede him, then steps effortlessly into the moment. Thankfully, ballads at JATP resulted in more meaningful solos, free from gratuitous riffing and shameless pandering. Ballads are the ultimate test of musicianship, and Bird made his most profound statements at such tempos, including this exquisite example.
The final version comes from Bird at St. Nick’s, the February 18th 1950 outing at NYC’s St. Nicholas Arena, recorded by Don Lamphere and/or Jimmy Knepper. This night may be the highpoint of Bird’s artistry on record, despite the poor sound quality. Certainly, nothing else surpasses it. He opens his solo with the same six-note motif from Take A of the Dial recording. (This incessantly analyzed motif was actually a quote from a forgotten 1939 pop tune called A Table In The Corner.) He proceeds from there to push harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic boundaries to the limit, in a solo that consists almost entirely of new ideas. He would reach these same heights at Birdland a few months later, in the company of Fats Navarro and Bud Powell.
Bird had plenty of brilliant moments in the 50s, when the circumstances were right and he was motivated to tap into the wellspring he never truly lost touch with. But much of the time his attitude seemed to be, If you consider my art form a mere commodity, and a not very valuable one at that, why in the world should I bother to prove you wrong?
These renditions of Embraceable You are the work of a man who held himself to almost impossible artistic standards and met them every time he picked up his horn, year after year after year, until there finally came a time when he couldn’t keep it up any longer. The triumph of Bird’s life was that he kept it up for as long as he did. The miracle of his life is that it happened at all.
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