To understand the significance of Dial Records, a good place to start is the tune “Relaxin’ at Camarillo.” Camarillo is 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, where Dial was founded in 1945 by Ross Russell, the young owner of the Tempo Music Shop, the record store he had opened the year before. The Camarillo State Mental Hospital is where Charlie Parker landed after being arrested for public nudity following a disastrous 1946 Dial session at which a whiskey-dosed Bird had trouble standing, much less playing in tune.
After getting out of the hospital in December, Parker showed up at Hollywood’s C.P. MacGregor Studios on Feb. 26, 1947, for a Dial session with four new compositions, including “Relaxin’ at Camarillo.” The “relaxing” in the title was as important as the “Camarillo,” for the 12-bar blues was taken at an unhurried pace, allowing Bird to emphasize his astonishing lyricism rather than the athletic speed that had marked his Savoy recordings on the East Coast.
Various Artists: The Complete Dial Modern Jazz Sessions
JazzTimes may earn a small commission if you buy something using one of the retail links in our articles. JazzTimes does not accept money for any editorial recommendations. Read more about our policy here. Thanks for supporting JazzTimes.
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music's best journalists and critics.
