Charlie Parker With Strings

Charlie Parker - Bird With Strings: Live At The Apollo, Carnegie Hall & Birdland (1950) {CBS-Sony Japan 25DP 5302, Early Press}
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© 1950-52, 1988 CBS-Sony Japan | 25DP 5302
Jazz / BeBop / Bop / Saxophone

During 1949-54 Charlie Parker often recorded and performed with a string section. This LP contains a cross section of Bird's live performances from 1950-52 and, although the string arrangements are the same as for the studio recordings, Parker's solos are quite a bit different.

Charlie Parker - Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker On Verve (1946-1954) {2005 10CD Box Set Verve-Universal 983 3382}
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© 1949-54, 2005 Verve / Universal Music Italia Srl | 983 3382
Jazz / Bop / Small Group / Big Band / Saxophone

As a leader, Charlie Parker recorded for Savoy and Dial during 1945-1948 and then for Verve exclusively (at least in the studios) during 1949-1954. This remarkable ten-CD box set, which adds quite a bit of material to an earlier ten-LP set, contains all of these recordings plus Bird's earlier appearances with Jazz at the Philharmonic. The JATP jams are highlighted by Parker's perfect solo on "Oh Lady Be Good," a ferocious improvisation on "The Closer," and a solo on "Embraceable You" that tops his more famous studio recording. In addition, this box has all of the "Bird and Strings" sides, his meetings with Machito's Cuban orchestra, the 1950 session with Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, small-group dates (including a 1951 meeting with Miles Davis), odd encounters with voices and studio bands, the famous "Jam Blues" with fellow altoists Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter, and his final recordings, a set of Cole Porter tunes. The fact-filled 34-page booklet is also indispensable. Highly recommended.

Jam Session [Recorded 1952]. Jam Session was compiled from a 1952 jam session which brought together three of history's greatest alto saxophonists; Parker, Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter, as well as Ben Webster and Flip Phillips on tenor sax. Orchestrated by Norman Granz to come as close to an authentic jam session as possible, this is the first of the Jazz at the Philharmonic series. The album includes an original blues tune ("Jam Blues"), a medley of ballads selected by each musician, and a mellow blues tune called "Funky Blues." The standard "What is This Thing Called Love," stands out particularly for its follow-the-leader style ending, with each musician trading fours. Interestingly, the meeting of these three greats, with their widely varying styles, results not in spectacular and fiercely competitive playing, but rather in a slight muting and sense of reserve from all three…

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.

Jam Session [Recorded 1952]. Jam Session was compiled from a 1952 jam session which brought together three of history's greatest alto saxophonists; Parker, Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter, as well as Ben Webster and Flip Phillips on tenor sax. Orchestrated by Norman Granz to come as close to an authentic jam session as possible, this is the first of the Jazz at the Philharmonic series. The album includes an original blues tune ("Jam Blues"), a medley of ballads selected by each musician, and a mellow blues tune called "Funky Blues." The standard "What is This Thing Called Love," stands out particularly for its follow-the-leader style ending, with each musician trading fours. Interestingly, the meeting of these three greats, with their widely varying styles, results not in spectacular and fiercely competitive playing, but rather in a slight muting and sense of reserve from all three…

For this set of unaccompanied solos, guitarist Joe Pass decided to pay tribute to Charlie Parker, not by recording his compositions but by playing ten of the numbers that Bird had recorded with strings during 1949-1950. One really does not miss the strings, for Pass had earlier in the decade developed his technique to the point where he sounded like a self-sufficient orchestra. Among the songs he plays are "Just Friends" (the most successful of the Charlie Parker with Strings recordings), "April in Paris," "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "If I Should Lose You," and two versions of "Out of Nowhere." Tasteful and swinging music by one classic musician in homage to another.