"KoKo" (1945) 
 
Alto sax -- Charlie Parker
Trumpet and piano -- Dizzy Gillespie
Bass -- Curley Russell
Drums -- Max Roach

This selection is not entirely a new piece.  Parker composed a new melody to the popular standard "Cherokee."  The melody requires great technical skill and  acts as a springboard to fast, fluid solos.  Parker and Gillespie play the melody in flawless unison.  The drummer, Max Roach, creates a steady roar with his stick work.  He delivers a complex polyrhythmic texture typical of bebop drumming.  The form of the written melody is AABA with the 'B' section being improvised.  Solos make up the bulk of the performance.  Notice the activity of the rhythm section.  The bass player walks, one note per beat chosen from scale and chord patterns.  The drummer is very aggressive and plays bombs, loud accents, which help build excitement.  The piano player comps chords.