Charlie Parker on "Groovin' High"
Continuing the beginning of the year effort to unload old transcriptions and such, here's another immortal declamation from Bird: "Groovin' High," from Diz 'n' Bird , live at Carnegie Hall in 1947. Like "Confirmation" from the same performance, "Groovin' High" appears in Steve Coleman's essential The Dozens essay on Bird : Parker's incredible time feel is on display from the moment he takes his break. He swings hard, even more evident here because during these four measures he is playing unaccompanied. The song begins in Eb major, but just before Bird's solo the music modulates during an interlude to Db major, then, after a second interlude, back again to Eb major for Dizzy's solo. Yard's solo break contains a classic example of what I call cutting corners, where Bird takes this one path, then, beginning with his characteristic rhythmic vocal-like sigh just after the 8th beat of the break, moves briefly i