"Now's the Time" is a composition by

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

. He led the first recording of it, on November 26, 1945.

Background and composition

"Although Parker was capable of writing intricate

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

melody lines, he sometimes stepped back from his more progressive leanings and drew on his Kansas City jazz roots in crafting simpler, bluesier compositions – of which 'Now's the Time' is a case in point." It is a riff-based blues, with typical bebop phrase endings at the end of bars 5 and 6.Priestley, Brian (2005) ''Chasin' the Bird''. Equinox. pp. 50, 209.

Original recording

"Now's the Time" was first recorded on November 26, 1945, by Charlie Parker's Reboppers: Parker (alto sax),

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

(trumpet),

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

Sadik Hakim Sadik Hakim (born Forrest Argonne Thornton; July 15, 1919 – June 20, 1983) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Early life Forrest Argonne Thornton was born on July 15, 1919 in Duluth, Minnesota. The name Argonne came from the World War ...

(piano),

Curley Russell Dillon "Curley" Russell (19 March 1917 – 3 July 1986) was an American jazz musician, who played bass on many bebop recordings. He was born in New York, United States. He was nicknamed "Curley" for his curly hair. A member of the Tadd Damero ...

(bass), and

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

(drums)."Charlie Parker – Complete Savoy & Dial Sessions" (CD liner notes). Definitive Records. DRCD 44402. Multiple takes were made; ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' suggests that "Parker's solo on the third take is superior in its slashing self-confidence to that on the fourth, which is slightly duller; Miles Davis plays without conviction on both." The fourth take was the original official release.

Influence

The melody of "Now's the Time" was used for "

The Hucklebuck "The Hucklebuck" (sometimes written "The Huckle-Buck") is a jazz and R&B dance tune first popularized by Paul Williams and His Hucklebuckers in 1949. The composition of the tune was credited to Andy Gibson, and lyrics were later added by Roy ...

", a hit for saxophonist Paul Williams four years after Parker's original recording. Despite being released by the same record label with the same producer, Parker was not credited; instead, the composition was attributed to

Andy Gibson Albert "Andy" Gibson (November 6, 1913 – February 11, 1961) was an American jazz trumpeter, arranger, and composer. Career Gibson played violin early on before settling on trumpet. Although he played professionally in many orchestras, he did ...

, who had been a songwriter for

Lucky Millinder Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder (August 8, 1910 – September 28, 1966) was an American swing and rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical ...

, who recorded it as "D-Natural Blues".

References

Bibliography * * {{refend 1940s jazz standards Compositions by Charlie Parker