"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 Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

. 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 (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

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 jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

(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 improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

or Sadik Hakim (piano), Curley Russell (bass), and

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz 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 history. He wo ...

(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", 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, who had been a songwriter for

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

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

References

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