The Continental Sessions Vol. 1

These are three sessions from 1945, shortly after the conception of Continental Records. While the leaders and most of the members of these sessions were prominent swing musicians, one of the three bands (Clyde Hart’s) included the founding fathers of bebop – Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. The musical repertoire ranges from Christmas songs, to traditional and swing standards, to ”modern” compositions (by Leonard Feather). The music is a unique blend of swing and early bebop. Continental Records was the right place at exactly the right time – 1945 – when swing music was still extremely popular and bebop was just beginning to flower.