Catching up a little.
First, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
Awesome Jerry Lewis. Man, those guys were talented! Beautiful flute by the great Frank Wess on the classic Basie tune “Cute”. Thanks, acman3.
Rok, you raise an interesting point. On the one hand, one of the “commandments” held by Jazz players is the idea that one should say what one has to say with the fewest number of notes possible. One the other hand, some players do have a whole lot to say. However, I think the answer to the question is in looking at it from a different angle and considering that in live performance solos were much longer than what was possible, as you point out, on 78’s, or even Lp’s. When playing live players often “stretch out” quite a bit. For good improvisers it is not simply indulgent and meaningless extended solos. The proof is the fact that one of the goals in good improvisation is thematic development and the development of an idea takes time; sometimes multiple choruses. I get what you are saying, particularly as it concerns Bird. He was a genius and could say what he had to say in whatever amount of time he had available. On the other hand, who can argue with Paul Gonsalves’ solo on Duke’s “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue”. Talk about having a lot to say!
I think the bottom line is that it depends on the player. I prefer to think that, overall, having more solo time on a recording is a net positive. It opens up possibilities and it certainly doesn’t have to be used.