Charlie Parker Laura Integrale

The sound quality on this album of Parker's Dial mid-'40s Dial material lacks the precision and clarity of his later Verve sessions. Much of the original source material disappeared when Dial went out of business, and, from the remaining masters, a good deal has been lost in the subsequent transfer and re-issue. Still, barring some distortion and a kind of hollow, muffled quality, Parker is in superior form as an artist on these tracks. The mid-'40s seems to be the time Bird hit his stride, and these tracks serve as no subtle reminder that Parker was not only a great innovator, but an incredibly emotional and soulful player, a fact often overshadowed by his technical prowess…

This CD released for the first time the soundtrack of two of Charlie Parker's appearances on television. Some of the music and talking is trivial and loose but a few of the performances are quite unique and Bird is heard with a variety of intriguing groups. From 1949 Parker plays a fine version of "Lover" and helps trumpeter Shorty Sherock on "I Can't Get Started" but is drowned out by Sidney Bechet on an uptempo blues. From 1952 Bird gets featured on "Anthropology" and participates in a "Bop vs. Dixieland" blues with trumpeters Max Kaminsky and Miles Davis, trombonists Kai Winding and Will Bradley and clarinetist Joe Marsala; everyone gets to solo. This interesting CD concludes with Bird in fine form in 1954 with a quintet that also includes trumpeter Herb Pomeroy, material not available elsewhere.

With jazz – lite and trite, near and drear, pretentious and tendentious – seemingly on the increase, the reissue of five “classic” Parker Verve albums (even in truncated form) is to be welcomed. Newcomers (if any exist) to his latter-day recordings as well as devotees (still alive) will find much to enjoy in this Avid compilation.

When producer Norman Granz decided to let Charlie Parker record standards with a full string section (featuring Mitch Miller on oboe!), the purists cried sellout, but nothing could be further from the truth. There's a real sense of involvement from Bird on these sides, which collect up all the master takes and also include some live tracks from Carnegie Hall that - judging from the sometimes uneasy murmurings of the crowd - amply illustrate just how weirdly this mixture of bop lines against "legit" arrangements was perceived. The music on this collection is lush, poetic, romantic as hell, and the perfect antidote to a surfeit of jazz records featuring undisciplined blowing. There's a lot of jazz, but there's only one Bird.