A recent thread about Real Book discrepancies got me to thinking about the tune Ornithology and the fact that there are typically two versions of it out there. I figured this out years ago, but only recently tracked down the recording of the "alternate" version I had heard years ago.
Basically the well known version is what you hear on the Charlie Parker Complete Savoy Recordings and that corresponds to the sheet found in the Omnibook. It has the traded triplet figures during the last five bars of the head.
The other version is found on both the "One Night At Birdland" and "Bird at the High-Hat" recordings and corresponds to the version I have in my bass clef edition of the Real Book. In this version the last five bars of the head have a great melody that sounds like more of an answer to the overall head and has a more definitive ending at the end of the second pass of the head.
So do any of the knowledgable jazz cats around here know the story (if there is one) behind there being two versions? I haven't come up with much in my searching for answers, but I've mostly been look at the web and haven't pulled any sources.
Best,
Dave
Basically the well known version is what you hear on the Charlie Parker Complete Savoy Recordings and that corresponds to the sheet found in the Omnibook. It has the traded triplet figures during the last five bars of the head.
The other version is found on both the "One Night At Birdland" and "Bird at the High-Hat" recordings and corresponds to the version I have in my bass clef edition of the Real Book. In this version the last five bars of the head have a great melody that sounds like more of an answer to the overall head and has a more definitive ending at the end of the second pass of the head.
So do any of the knowledgable jazz cats around here know the story (if there is one) behind there being two versions? I haven't come up with much in my searching for answers, but I've mostly been look at the web and haven't pulled any sources.
Best,
Dave
)
