Thriving From a Riff, also known as Anthropology or Thriving on a Riff, is a bebop jazz composition credited to Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, though Parker later stated Gillespie did not co-write it. It is a contrafact based on the harmony of I Got Rhythm. The first recording occurred on November 26, 1945, by a Parker-led group featuring Miles Davis on trumpet, Sadik Hakim on piano, Curley Russell on bass, Milt Jackson on vibraphone, and Max Roach on drums. The tune is tied to Parker’s mid-1940s Savoy and Dial sessions, and was released as a 7-inch single on Savoy 45-306 with Thriving On A Riff on side A and Sipping At Bell’s on side B, the latter drawn from a Miles Davis All Stars date in 1947. It remains a landmark 1940s bebop standard and has appeared on later collections, including The Charlie Parker Story.
