Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, music · First recorded for Savoy in New York as Thriving on a Riff
Anthropology
Anthropology is a Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie tune on the changes of I Got Rhythm. Players like it as a compact bebop head over a form they already know, usually played fast. You will hear it on records by Parker, Gillespie, Art Pepper, Max Roach and Phil Woods.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Hear the first recording Charlie Parker's Reboppers✓
- 2 Hear Gillespie's version Dizzy Gillespie✓
- 3 Hear the composers together Dizzy Gillespie - Charlie Parker Quintet✓
- 4 Hear it from the piano Barry Harris Quintet✓
- 5 Hear a saxophone-led version Lee Konitz featuring Barry Harris✓
- 6 Hear the chart's source Art Pepper✓
- 7 Hear it sung Dizzy Gillespie and Les Double Six✓
- 8 Hear a recent live version Phil Woods and the Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra✓
How the tune works
Thirty-two bars in four sections of eight, A A B A, all in B♭. Each A section opens with the turnaround B♭ G7, Cm7 F7, which comes round again in bars 3 and 4 as Dm7 G7 or B♭ Gm7 over Cm7 F7. Bars 5 and 6 play Fm7 B♭7 and an E♭7 chord. In bars 7 and 8 the first A plays Dm7 G7 and Cm7 F7 to lead into the repeat, and the other two A sections play Cm7 F7 and land on B♭. The bridge moves through D7, G7, C7 and F7, two bars each, and the last A brings the form home to B♭.
The changes under Art Pepper's clarinet solo on his 1979 trio record (with Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins), transcribed in the Weimar Jazz Database. Published sheets read bar 3 of each A as Dm7 G7 and bar 6 as E♭7 E°7.
Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with Parker's 1945 Savoy record and Gillespie's 1946 version, then goes live at Birdland in 1951 and on to a 1961 pianist-led quintet and a 1991 live set led by Lee Konitz. It ends with Art Pepper's 1979 clarinet trio, a 1963 record with a vocal group and a live tribute from 2004.
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Step 1 · Hear the first recording Now playing
Charlie Parker's Reboppers 1945
“Thriving on a Riff”
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- Listen for
- Parker's solo in the Weimar transcription runs two 32-bar choruses at about 227 beats per minute. Count the choruses by listening for the bridge each time it comes round.
- Try this
- Play the first four bars of the A section from the chart: B♭ G7, Cm7 F7, B♭ Gm7, Cm7 F7. Smaller version: play only the root of each chord.
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Step 2 · Hear Gillespie's version Now playing
Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra 1946
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- Listen for
- Gillespie's trumpet solo in the Weimar transcription is one 32-bar chorus of about 31 seconds near 246 beats per minute. Listen for Milt Jackson's vibraphone and Bill DeArango's guitar next to Al Haig's piano.
- Try this
- Play the bridge from the chart, D7 G7 C7 F7 at two bars each, along with the record. Smaller version: play only the root of each chord.
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Step 3 · Hear the composers together Now playing
Dizzy Gillespie - Charlie Parker Quintet 1951
Summit Meeting at Birdland
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- Listen for
- Parker, Gillespie and Powell all play on this track, which runs 5:46. Count the 32-bar choruses by listening for the bridge.
- Try this
- Play along with one chorus of the chart's chords, then stop and listen for the next bridge, D7 G7 C7 F7 at two bars each. Smaller version: play only the roots of the bridge.
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Step 4 · Hear it from the piano Now playing
Barry Harris Quintet 1961
Newer Than New
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- Listen for
- Barry Harris leads from the piano, with trumpet and alto saxophone in front of bass and drums. Listen to the piano chords under each horn and compare them with the chart.
- Try this
- Play bars 1 to 8 of the chart on piano or guitar, then play them again at the record's pace. Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
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Step 5 · Hear a saxophone-led version Now playing
Lee Konitz featuring Barry Harris 1991
Lullaby of Birdland
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- Listen for
- The track runs 7:53, with Konitz leading, Harris featured on piano, and bass and drums behind them. Count the choruses by listening for the bridge.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords for the last A section, bars 25 to 32, when the record gets there, then rest until the next one. Smaller version: play only the first chord of each bar.
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Step 6 · Hear the chart's source Now playing
Art Pepper 1979
Artworks
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- Listen for
- Pepper's clarinet solo runs four choruses in the Weimar transcription, starting about 49 seconds in, near 219 beats per minute. The lineup is only clarinet, bass and drums, so try to hear each chord change in Haden's bass line.
- Try this
- Follow the chart bar by bar through one chorus of Pepper's clarinet solo. Smaller version: follow only the bridge, D7 G7 C7 F7 at two bars each.
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Step 7 · Hear it sung Now playing
Dizzy Gillespie and Les Double Six 1963
Dizzy Gillespie and the Double Six of Paris
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- Listen for
- Seven vocalists are listed with Gillespie's quartet, and Bud Powell plays piano. Listen for how the voices and the trumpet share the 32 bars.
- Try this
- Play the chart's bridge, D7 G7 C7 F7, under the record, then sit out the A sections. Smaller version: play only the roots.
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Step 8 · Hear a recent live version Now playing
Phil Woods and the Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra 2004
Groovin' to Marty Paich
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- Listen for
- A reviewer notes Woods's spoken introduction setting the tempo, and says clarinet is the instrument Pepper used on the tune in 1959. Compare this arrangement with the Art Pepper + Eleven track in the extras.
- Try this
- Follow the chart through one chorus and note the moment the bridge starts. Smaller version: raise a hand each time the bridge comes round.
More great versions
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Charlie Parker Septet 1949
Bird at the Roost: The Savoy Years, Volume Four
Parker's septet plays Anthropology on a Royal Roost radio broadcast in March 1949, with Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Lucky Thompson on tenor saxophone and Milt Jackson on vibraphone beside him.
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Charlie Parker with quartet 1953
The Washington Concerts
Parker plays Anthropology with a piano trio that includes Max Roach on drums, at the Howard Theatre in Washington in March 1953.
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Max Roach Quartet 1957
The Max Roach 4 Plays Charlie Parker
Drummer Max Roach leads a quartet of trumpet, tenor saxophone, bass and drums, with no piano.
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Art Pepper + Eleven 1959
Art Pepper + Eleven: Modern Jazz Classics
Art Pepper fronts eleven players conducted by Marty Paich, whose arrangements Phil Woods played again in 2004.
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Hank Jones Quintet 1978
Groovin' High
Pianist Hank Jones leads a quintet with cornet and tenor saxophone, recorded at Van Gelder's studio on January 25, 1978.
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Phil Woods and the Space Jazz Trio 1991
Live at the Corridonia Jazz Festival 1992
Phil Woods plays with the Space Jazz Trio at the Corridonia festival in Italy in July 1991, and the track runs 11:33.