This double CD contains the entire sessions featuring jazz legends Charlie Parker and Lester Young from the first two Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts in 1946 and the final concert in 1949. These saxophonists appear alongside other masters of the genre: Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Flip Phillips, Charlie Ventura, Al Killian, and Howard McGhee. These are consistently engaging performances that captured these creative musicians sparking each other into one fiery jam session after another. Ella Fitzgerald makes an appearance as vocalist on "How High the Moon," which closes out this set.
Exhaustive 30 CD collection from the Jazz legend's short-lived label. Contains 44 original albums (421 tracks) plus booklet. Every record-collector has run across an album with the little sax-playing bird in it's label-logo, right next to the brand name Charlie Parker Records or CP Parker Records. Turning the sleeve over, especially if it was one of the non-Parker releases, and seeing a '60s release date under the header Stereo-pact! Was as exciting an experience as it was confusing. Was the claim Bird Lives meant more literally than previously thought?
The 1946 Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts were true all-star events. This CD compiles portions of two different evenings. The first track, from January, includes trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Al Kilian, and Howard McGhee and saxophonists Charlie Parker, Willie Smith, Charlie Ventura, and Lester Young in the front line. Young, having recently gotten out of the military service, is still not at full strength, with Parker and Gillespie taking charge in the rousing "Sweet Georgia Brown." McGhee takes Dizzy's place on the remaining January numbers.
Solo – Harmonica on Harmonica charts a journey from the Middle Ages to our own time and showcases the harmonica in all its versatility and variety. From jazz legends Chick Corea, Charlie Parker and Lester Young to Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and from the sinful tango of Mato Rodriguez’s famous La Cumparcita to the sacred monody of O Virgo splendens – the repertoire and the performances display striking juxtapositions. Luca Littera is an acclaimed chromatic harmonica virtuoso. He performs here on a selection of instruments, multi-tracking each part to create the unique sound of an ensemble of harmonicas.