Charlie

Verve gathers together all of the master takes of Charlie Parker's recordings with the swinging band of Afro-Cuban jazz pioneer Machito, along with ten other Latinized numbers that he cut in 1951-1952. Besides illustrating the willingness of producer Norman Granz to experiment and take Parker out of a small-group bebop straitjacket, this CD shows that Bird's improvisational style changed hardly at all in a Latin setting. He continued to run off his patented lightning bop licks over the congas and bongos and they just happened to interlock with the grooves quite snugly, although he did adapt his phrasing of the tunes themselves to suit their rhythmic lines.

Charlie Christian's tragic death at the age of 23 is a firmly entrenched fact of jazz mythology. On The Genius of the Electric Guitar, which consists of various tracks recorded with the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra, Christian's revolutionary guitar playing is clearly displayed. In keeping with the era, each of these 16 songs is relatively short, with each soloist allowed only a chorus or two to make their statements. Paucity of time troubles Christian and his compatriots not a whit, however, and they let loose with concise, swinging lines. Of the other soloists on display here, Lionel Hampton and Goodman himself play admirably, but Christian is in a different league altogether, his sophistication remarkable. Exhibit A: his solo in "Rose Room." Logically constructed and rhythmically varied, it is nevertheless eminently singable…

Musicians like to observe that for all his notoriety as the wellspring of bebop, Charlie "Bird" Parker's music was loaded with the blues. Swedish Schnapps is as good a place as any to make that connection with Parker's music, including as it does two of his most enduring bop heads based on the blues, "Au Privave" and "Blues For Alice." While you wouldn't mistake either composition for a Muddy Waters tune, both relate Bird's off-kilter accents and serpentine melodicism at walking tempos that let you hear what's actually going by, instead of leaving you astonished but bemused. To really drive the point home, there's "K.C. Blues," which finds the altoist at his hollerin' best, and "Lover Man," certainly one of the bluesiest 32-bar standards around.

EU-only release containing all existing broadcasts presenting Charlie Parker at the Bandbox club in New York. He is featured here in unusual contexts, with the Bill Harris/Chubby Jackson Herd and with organist Milt Buckner, as well as a whole show in a quartet format. As a bonus, we have added all existing music from a jam session recorded in 1951 at Christy's Restaurant, in Framingham, Massachusetts, as well as a rare session taped that same year at the Diplomat Hotel in New York. This collection contains Parker's only existing version of 'Your Father's Moustache', as well as all of his surviving versions of 'Caravan'.

This 1988 outing is another seamless part of the thread that is this eclectic West Coast band, brimming with equal parts good humor and sensational playing. Charlie Baty tears into his guitar on the opener, "That's My Girl," and keeps the heat up throughout this set, turning in jazzy work on "My Money's Green," rockabilly licks galore on "She's Talking," and getting quite bluesy on the slow one, "V-8 Ford." Rick Estrin contributes explosive harp work on "Nervous," "I Ain't Lyin'," and "Don't Boss Me," plus vocals full of sly charm on every track along the line. If you like these guys, add this one to the shopping cart if you haven't already.

The first of at least four meetings on record between the great Brazilian-styled guitarists Laurindo Almeida and Charlie Byrd, this very logical matchup (in a quartet with bassist Bob Magnusson and percussionist Milt Holland) is quite succesful. The music is tightly arranged with very little improvisation but the beauty of the two guitarist's distinctive tones and the colorful melodies makes this a rewarding set. From "Carioca" and Jobim's "Stone Flower" to several Brazilian classical pieces and even "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," everything works.

This is a listening pleasure to the first degree. Unlike any other, Charlie Byrd sincerely knows how to make his instrument speak, sending graceful chords and melodies to this attentive audience. Staged at the Village Gate in New York City, Byrd pulls out a lengthy set of material from his soul, encountering everything from swing jazz to bebop (with the help of two special guests) to Latin America's candid art form. Yes, the trio plays bossa nova with grace and finesse, enlightening the crowd at this "miniature music festival," notes reviewer Joe Goldberg. Byrd prances along with his trio mates, Keter Betts on bass and Bill Reichenbach on the skins. Positively speaking, the majority of the material has a vibrant flair, with some attuned to a candid, easy listening aura, while other tunes heighten the energy with dramatic percussion and more elaborate sonic territory…

Calling this retrospective by Charlie Musselwhite a "deluxe edition" may be a little misleading. Twelve of the album's 14 tracks come from three albums he recorded for Alligator in the early '90s. There are four each from Ace of Harps (1990), Signature (1991), and In My Time (1993). The sequencing is beautifully done and representative. The true curiosities are two unissued cuts. The first is "Lotsa Poppa," an outtake from the In My Time sessions. The cut itself isn't such a revelation, but Musselwhite's harp playing and singing is. His delivery is signature in that he is always slow and relaxed yet just underneath.

Some of acoustic guitarist Charlie Byrd's albums can get a bit sleepy while tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton has recorded so much throughout his career that there is always a danger of a certain sameness pervading. Hamilton sits in with Byrd's trio (which also includes bassist John Goldsby and drummer Chuck Redd) on this CD and the combination is somewhat magical. The bossa-nova rhythms give Hamilton a new setting while Byrd is clearly inspired by the tenor's presence. They perform 11 mostly well-known standards, coming up with fresh ideas on such songs as "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," "My Shining Hour," "Street of Dreams" and "Let's Fall in Love." Easily recommended to fans of both Charlie Byrd and Scott Hamilton.