Night in Tunisia

[Peter Friedman]

The Charlie Parker on Dial is my favorite .

Another one I like not yet mentioned is the version by Stan Getz on the Verve recording titled West Coast Jazz.

[mikeweil]

The first version that really made me take notice of the tune was Herbie Mann's on the Atlantic LP The Common Ground. Still enjoy it.

Bird's with the famous alto break occupies the # 1 position.

Recently I liked the vocal version of Maria Rivas a lot, Noche en Tunez, from her CD Café Negrito.

I find a chronological listen of the ealiest versions of Bird, Dizzy, the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra, and Sarah Vaughan (Interlude) very inspiring.

[Stereojack]

Nobody has mentioned my favorite version yet - Dizzy Gillespie's 1946 recording on RCA Victor. The blistering trumpet solo floored me way back when I was a 15-year-old budding young jazz fan, and still does!

[mikeweil]

I read somewhere that this was supposed to have a title with some Carribean place instead of Tunisia, but can't remember exactly.

[B. Clugston]

It seems every time Dizzy touched this tune it was magic, even in later years. I saw a nice version from Montreal with that guitar/bass/drums combo he had in later years. The Massey Hall version may well be my favourite.

Parker's versions are great as well.

Also quite like Sonny's take on the Village Vanguard set.

[Chuck Nessa]

Sorry if I missed my first version (intitial imprints are important), the Diz/Bird performance at Carnegie in 1947. I had it on a Roost lp then and a BN/Roost cd now.

[DukeCity]

That Charlie Parker break on the Dial is indeed amazing. I think that's one of the things that made me kinda dig my "gulty pleasure" Chaka Khan version: Herbie Hancock is playing on it (lots of synth bass, etc) and they use a recorded sample of Bird's break with Herbie doubling it on synth. Pretty slick, and it was damn impresssive to my then 17-year old ears.

[DanG]

Ella Fitzgerald from Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie

That's my new favorite too, Dan.

Yes, Scott, I can just call up her voice on this one in my mind, which is usually hard for me to do. And I think Ella's take on the beat is great, and unique, too.

That said, this thread has motivated me to look for other covers I own of this tune. Chuck's post reminded me I've got this on the recent Uptown Records Gillespie/Parker Town Hall 1945 CD. That will get played this afternoon.

[GA Russell]

My first was the Teddy Charles version on the B side of the Miles/Konitz Ezz-thetic LP, which Quincy has mentioned is now available on the New Directions CD. It's still my favorite.

[JohnS]

Wouldn't the first on of the list have to be the Bird Dial version from 1946, the one that, as Max Harrison put it, "contains a four-bar break that is an astonishing outburst of virtuosity...."?

That would be my recommendation too.

Yes, I think mine too.

Edited September 15, 2006 by JohnS

[allblues]

The recording that comes to mind besides the ones already mentioned is Johnny Griffin's from Bush Dance (1978).

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

The recording that comes to mind besides the ones already mentioned is Johnny Griffin's from Bush Dance (1978).

Yeah, that was one of the two I was going to mention with a completely different approach to the tune from the normal burn. Griffin's long medium paced latin intro, with Diz-style singing, is fabulous. And when they break to a slightly different groove, it feels like some of the more interesting contemporary Mandinke cuts I've got.

The other different approach is by Rusty Bryant on the album "For the good times", which is on CD. He takes it slowly, grooving with a good bit of grease.

I've got quite a few versions, including the Parker 1946 and the Blakey Birdland session (did anyone mention that amongst all the Blakeys?), both of which I like a lot. But the different approaches are the ones that really get me.

MG

[Kari S]

There's one on this. The recording quality is truely crap though.

[mikeweil]

My first was the Teddy Charles version on the B side of the Miles/Konitz Ezz-thetic LP, which Quincy has mentioned is now available on the New Directions CD. It's still my favorite.

Teddy Charles' vibes break on this rivals Bird's!

Charles plays the bongos, too, in the percussion feature at the end, although he is not credited for it.

[danasgoodstuff]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but I don't think anyone's mentioned my fav rav:

Bird, Diz, Bud & the (still) great Roy Haynes, Summit Meeting @ Birdland (among other issues), 1950?

amazing Bird break and for me Roy swings more than Max...

[Tom in RI]

Not my favorite but Baird Hersey, a guitarist then based in Boston, did an interesting update of this around 1978, featured Dave Leibman also.

[(BB)]

Again, not necessarily a favorite but I just picked up Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars, Vol 4 with Rumsey on Bass, B. Cooper on Oboe and English Horn, B.Shank on flute and alto flute, C. Williams on Piano and M. Roach on Drums. I can say, without reservations, that it is my favorite version with an oboe in it.

[Jazz Kat]

Michel Camillo does a nice version. Sorry if this has been mentioned.

[DanG]

Wouldn't the first on of the list have to be the Bird Dial version from 1946, the one that, as Max Harrison put it, "contains a four-bar break that is an astonishing outburst of virtuosity...."?

I can't find a clip of this on the 'net, anyone? Also, is this available on vinyl or CD?

I just picked up Sonority by the Curtis Counce Group, I like their version of A Night In Tunisia. Gerald Wilson on trumpet, with Harold Land, Carl Perkins, Counce, and Frank Butler. These guys always cooked.