Programme and handbill for "A Concert of Concerts" presented by The Guardsmen of Pittsburgh.

PARKER, Charlie.

Published by Pittsburgh, PA: Syria Mosque, May 3, 1950

About this Item

From the collection of Rolling Stones drummer and jazz aficionado Charlie Watts, with his posthumous bookplate: a pair of beyond-scarce relics memorializing an all-star concert featuring George Shearing (topping the bill), Bird's quintet, and with the "Special Added Attraction" of bassist Slam Stewart. The precise line-up of Bird's "orchestra" for this gig is not known, but probably comprised Al Haig, Roy Haynes, Tommy Potter, and Red Rodney. Cook and Morton describe the outfit as "a tight and very professional band who sound as if they've been together for some time" and although "Haynes is no Max Roach, even at this period, his count is increasingly subtle and deceptive, and he cues some of Rodney's better releases brilliantly". The Syria Mosque was a 3,750 capacity Moorish-style auditorium built for the Shriners in 1916, and widely recognised as one of the finest examples of exotic revival architecture alongside Grauman's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, and the El Zaribah Shrine Auditorium in Phoenix, Arizona. Despite this, and that fact that it remained one of the leading music venues for the Pittsburgh area, home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, it was demolished in 1991 and became the car park for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. From the celebrated jazz memorabilia collection of Norman R. Saks. Vail, Saks Collection, 102 & 51. Richard Cook & Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, eighth edition, 2006. Octavo programme (228 x 152 mm), 16 pages, wire-stitched in dark pink textured card wrappers, printed in black on front; single-sided handbill (225 x 152 mm) on tan flimsy paper-stock, framed and glazed (342 x 260 mm). Small artist portraits to programme. The programme very good indeed, the handbill lightly browned at the margins, and with a small chip from the lower right-hand corner, but overall remarkably well preserved. Seller Inventory # 171112

Bibliographic Details

Title: Programme and handbill for "A Concert of ...

Publisher: Pittsburgh, PA: Syria Mosque, May 3, 1950