VA - The Passion Of Charlie Parker (2017/FLAC-HD)

 Impulse!/Verve present “The Passion of Charlie Parker”, an album of iconic Parker songs transformed through the addition of lyrics to create a musical play that narrates Bird’s life. Produced by Larry Klein with lyrics by David Baerwald, the album features actor Jeffrey Wright in the role of Parker as narrator, with vocals provided by Wright, Gregory Porter, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Barbara Hannigan, Luciana Souza, Kurt Elling and Camille Bertault.

This ambitious project reimagines the music of Charlie Parker with lyrics that tell the story of Parker's life. Produced by Grammy winner Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock) with lyrics by David Baerwald, the album features actor Jeffrey Wright portraying Parker as narrator, while Gregory Porter, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Barbara Hannigan, Luciana Souza, Kurt Elling and Camille Bertault lend their voices. The singers are backed by a superb band consisting of pianist Craig Taborn, saxophonist Donny McCaslin, guitarist Ben Monder, bassists Larry Grenadier and Scott Colley and drummers Mark Giuliana and Eric Harland.

 

VA - Membran Music's Jazz Ballads Series Vol. 16-20 (10 CD, 2004) [FLAC + 320]

 

A CD sets with the most beautiful ballads in the history of jazz.

Lyrical, imaginative, sensuous and melodic jewels from the art of music.

Precisely for those people who have maintained their taste for lasting musical values.

Jazz in its most gentle form.

Irrestible...

Jazz Ballads 16: Charlie Parker

Jazz Ballads 17: Tenor Giants

Jazz Ballads 18: Art Tatum

Jazz Ballads 19: Louis Armstrong & Jack Teagarden

Jazz Ballads 20: All Stars Jam Sessions

Charlie Parker - Complete Savoy & Dial Sessions [8 CD, 2001/FLAC ]

 

Recorded between 1944 & 1948. Through the miracle of high-resolution digital transfer and mastering technology, Bird enthusiasts can now get an earful of the shape of Charlie Parker's musical accomplishments for Savoy and Dial in the 1940s. Available as a eight-disc box set, the alto saxophonist is recorded in various configurations as performer and bandleader with such mainstream jazz greats as trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, pianists Bud Powell and Erroll Garner, drummer Max Roach, trombonist J.J. Johnson, and bassist Ray Brown, to name but a few.

Charlie Parker - A Studio Chronicle 1940-1948 [5 CD, 2003] (FLAC + 320)

  

A Studio Chronicle 1940-1948 is a five-disc box set detailing what producer Ted Kendall considers to be the essential studio recordings of saxophonist Charlie Parker. Included here are not only the innovative bebop sides that made Parker a living legend, but also the early Kansas City swing recordings he appeared on while playing with the Jay McShann Orchestra. The result is a studio history of Parker's development from a struggling farm kid turned musician to the most important figure in jazz history next to Louis Armstrong. Given that these recordings are widely available, the real attraction here is the faithful-to-the-original remastered sound, the historically enlightening liner notes, and the overarching critical aesthetic that these are the Bird cuts to check out. Also, given that the tracks are presented with few repeats on discs in chronological order makes this better listening than Atlantic's Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948. Oddly though, the only place Kendall delineates what labels these tracks were originally released on -- mostly Dial and Savoy -- is in the track listing and there only by label numbers. Despite this confusing omission, Kendall has produced a superb collection that illuminates more than it overlooks.

Charlie Parker - Bird In Boston - Live At The Hi-Hat 1953-1954 (2 CD, 2016/FLAC)

  

For over two decades, the Hi-Hat Club occupied a choice location among the jazz clubs of Boston’s South End district, at the corner of Columbus and Massachusetts Avenue. After the end of World War II, lesser luminaries took over the band-stand, and after a while entertainment practically stopped altogether.

Dave Coleman, a jazz promoter, had taken over management of the club in 1949. Through Coleman’s personal initiative, the Hi-Hat enjoyed its most successful years, and by 1951 it was the only club featuring a consistent policy of presenting modern jazz.

Between 1953 and 1954 Charlie Parker made several visits to Boston, where he was often hired to play as a “single” at the Hi-Hat, backed by local musicians. The performances contained in these two albums come from radio broadcasts emceed by famed disc-jockey “Symphony Sid” (Sid Torin), duplicating here his New York role from the control booth inside the Hi-Hat for his nightly radio show on WCOP.

• Charlie Parker (as), 
• Herb Pomeroy, Herbie Williams (tp), 
• Jay Migliori (ts), 
• Dean Earle, Rollins Griffith (p), 
• Bernie Griggs, Jimmy Woode (b), 
• Bill Graham, Marquis Foster, George Solano (d)

 

Charlie Parker - The Complete Savoy Studio Sessions (3 CD, 1986/FLAC)

 This three-CD box set contains all of the recordings Charlie Parker made for the Savoy label and it is overflowing with gems and an almost countless number of alternate takes. Bird was one of the most important jazzmen of all time and nearly every note he recorded (in the studios if not live) is well worth hearing. This box starts off with his sideman date with Tiny Grimes in 1944, contains Parker's famous "Ko Ko" session of 1945 (with a young Miles Davis on trumpet and highlighted by "Now's the Time" and "Billie's Bounce"), and continues through his 1947-1948 quintet sessions with a more mature Miles Davis; either Bud Powell, John Lewis, or Duke Jordan on piano; bassists Tommy Potter, Curly Russell, or Nelson Boyd; and drummer Max Roach. Together they recorded such classics as "Donna Lee," "Chasin' the Bird," "Milestones," and "Parker's Mood." Every scrap that the great altoist cut for Savoy is in this box. 

The Paris All-Stars – Homage To Charlie Parker (1990/FLAC)

 

The city of Paris celebrated bop and the spirit of Charlie Parker with several days of all-star concerts in 1989, highlighted by this performance featuring eight giants who either played with the late alto saxophonist or built upon the foundation of his contributions, though the repertoire doesn't draw exclusively from Parker's recordings. The concert was led by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, with alto saxophonists Phil Woods and Jackie McLean, tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, pianist Hank Jones, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Max Roach. Egos are never apparent as the men joyfully support one another and no one goes out of his way to showboat during a solo. Getz is featured in "Warm Valley," Roach is all alone during his three-part "Drummers' Sweet," it's Jackson with the rhythm section in the sentimental "Old Folks," while Heath opens a trio rendition of "Yardbird Suite" with a formidable unaccompanied solo. Dizzy's muted horn is complemented by Jones' spacious piano in a marvelous duet of "Con Alma." Woods and McLean team up for a fun romp through "Cherokee," while everyone returns to the stage for an inspired, smoking interpretation of "A Night in Tunisia," followed by Gillespie's delightful scatting in a burning take of "Oop-Pop-A-Da," which ignites his fellow players. Classical composer Mort Goode's liner notes talk more about the musicians than the performances themselves, so that explains why he didn't catch the bizarre mislabeling of "Steeplechase" as "Birk's Works," or the crediting of Gillespie's "Oop-Pop-A-Da" to Babs Gonzales. Sadly, this A&M CD has been out of print for quite some time, though it is well worth searching for a copy. 

    Alto Saxophone – Jackie McLean, Phil Woods

    Bass – Percy Heath

    Drums – Max Roach

    Piano – Hank Jones

    Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz

    Trumpet – Dizzy Gillespie

    Vibraphone – Milt Jackson

Recorded June 15, 1989 at La Grande Hale - La Villette, Paris 

1. Steeplechase
2. Warm Valley
3. Drummer's Sweet: The Third Eye/Billy the Kid/The Drum Also Waltzes
4. Old Folks
5. Yardbird Suite
6. Con Alma
7. Cherokee
8. A Night in Tunisia
9. Oop-Pop-A-Da

Verve Jazz Masters series Vol. 21-30

 

 Jazz Masters is a series of mainly single artist compilations released by Polygram/Verve between 1994 and 1996. The compilations collect material that was originally released on Verve or on one of the labels that became part of the Polygram group. The 20th and 60th releases in the series were various artist collections.

VJM 21 - George Benson

VJM 22 - Billy Eckstine

VJM 23 - Gil Evans

VJM 24 - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

VJM 25 - Stan Getz & Dizzy Gillespie

VJM 26 - Lionel Hampton & Oscar Peterson

VJM 27 - Roland Kirk

VJM 28 - Charlie Parker Plays Standards

VJM 29 - Jimmy Smith

VJM 30 - Lester Young

 

The Quintet (Charlie Chan, Charlie Mingus, Max Roach, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie) - Jazz At massey Hall (1956-2004/FLAC)

Bop pioneers Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell,and Max Roach are on fire in this performance given in 1953. Parker is listed as "Charlie Chan" due to his contract with his record label.

 Recorded live at Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada; May 15, 1953.

• Alto Saxophone – Charlie Chan
• Bass – Charlie Mingus
• Drums – Max Roach
• Piano – Bud Powell
• Trumpet – Dizzy Gillespie

01. Perdido (7:43)

02. Salt Peanuts (7:40)

03. All The Things You Are / 52nd Street Theme (7:51)

04. Wee (A.K.A. Allen's Alley) (6:42)

05. Hot House (9:11)

06. A Night In Tunisia (7:34)

Verve Jazz Masters series Vol. 11-20

 Jazz Masters is a series of mainly single artist compilations released by Polygram/Verve between 1994 and 1996. The compilations collect material that was originally released on Verve or on one of the labels that became part of the Polygram group. The 20th and 60th releases in the series were various artist collections.

VJM 11 - Stéphane Grappelli

VJM 12 - Billie Holiday

VJM 13 - Antonio Carlos Jobim

VJM 14 - Wes Montgomery

VJM 15 - Charlie Parker

VJM 16 - Oscar Peterson

VJM 17 - Nina Simone

VJM 18 - Sarah Vaughan

VJM 19 - Dinah Washington

VJM 20 - Introducing Jazz Masters

Charlie Parker - The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes (3 CD, 2002/FLAC)

 

Through the miracle of high-resolution digital transfer and mastering technology, Bird enthusiasts can now get an earful of the shape of Charlie Parker's musical accomplishments for Savoy and Dial in the 1940s. Available as a three-disc box set, the alto saxophonist is recorded in various configurations as performer and bandleader with such mainstream jazz greats as trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, pianists Bud Powell and Erroll Garner, drummer Max Roach, trombonist J.J. Johnson, and bassist Ray Brown, to name but a few. Charlie Parker draws on his pungent roots and rhythms of the Kansas City jazz scene on "Parker's Mood" and makes a deep statement of the existence of the blues in the jazz tradition. His freedom and rapid-fire sax lines on "Yardbird Suite" serve to confirm his excellence in crafting polished improvisations and solos. One of Parker's strongest compositions, "Orinithology," is pure, unadulterated bebop, and the unique sound of Parker's alto saxophone is clearly articulated through smoothly executed phrasings and cutting, focused energy. Parker picks up the tenor saxophone with the Miles Davis All-Stars on such great songs as "Milestones" and "Sippin' at Bell's." Overall, Bird audiophiles, jazz educators, and historians should be prepared to be impressed. This collection is arguably Bird's most important recording studio work.

Charlie Parker - The Complete Live Performances on Savoy 1947-1950 [4 CD, 1998/FLAC]

 

This four-CD set contains a somewhat streamlined presentation of Parker's complete known live broadcasts from New York's Royal Roost, dating during 1948 and 1949, augmented with five of the live September 29, 1947, Carnegie Hall recordings and one lower-quality tape made in Chicago during 1950.

For years, the audio quality of many of the performances gathered on these four CDs prevented a full-on embrace, what with all the other available Charlie Parker out there. But this collection restores these sessions to notoriety. They're mostly from New York's Royal Roost, 1948 to 1950, but with a 1947 Carnegie Hall supergroup concert and a 1950 Chicago pickup date that boasts some unknowns--and undersung guitarist George Freeman--with Parker. First, the single drawback: emcee and radio host "Symphony Sid" Torin's sometimes obsequious, faux-hipster shtick that bookends several of the tunes. Rest assured, though, Torin makes only brief intros and outros. Beyond that, these are all stellar works. The quintet on three of the CDs (the Royal Roost sessions) features Parker with Miles Davis on much of CD 1, highlighting the clipped fire of bebop's architecture being tunneled under by Davis's mellow-tone brass. Even when Kenny Dorham takes over on trumpet, the alchemy is built on contrast, Parker's raspy, fast wit and Dorham's wry (but often likemindedly fast) ripostes. Pianists Tadd Dameron and Al Haig make great showings, as does Max Roach, pushing the energy with a loose attack that defies the fact that the majority of these performances were for radio. The more-famed quintet fronted by Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and pianist John Lewis (famed cofounder of the Modern Jazz Quartet) closes the collection with five tunes from a 1947 Carnegie Hall concert. Parker seems more restrained, Gillespie gleeful, and Lewis characteristically spare. But the playing is first-rate, whether at light-speed (as on "Dizzy Atmosphere") or at the loping clip of "Groovin' High."

 

Charlie Parker - Portrait [10 CD, 2007]

One of a handful of musicians who can be said to have permanently changed jazz, Charlie Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time. He could play remarkably fast lines that, if slowed down to half speed, would reveal that every note made sense. "Bird," along with his contemporaries Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell, is considered a founder of bebop; in reality he was an intuitive player who simply was expressing himself. Rather than basing his improvisations closely on the melody as was done in swing, he was a master of chordal improvising, creating new melodies that were based on the structure of a song. In fact, Bird wrote several future standards (such as "Anthropology," "Ornithology," "Scrapple from the Apple," and "Ko Ko," along with such blues numbers as "Now's the Time" and "Parker's Mood") that "borrowed" and modernized the chord structures of older tunes. Parker's remarkable technique, fairly original sound, and ability to come up with harmonically advanced phrases that could be both logical and whimsical were highly influential. By 1950, it was impossible to play "modern jazz" with credibility without closely studying Charlie Parker.

Charlie Parker - Retrospective 1940-1953 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 In 2005, Saga Jazz released a 62-track anthology of Charlie Parker recordings under the title Retrospective 1940-1953. It's a good strong shot of vintage bop, but like so many compilations it suffers slightly from chronologic scrambling. 

 The oldest material, which happens to be the earliest known recording of Charlie Parker, shows up on track 24; "Honeysuckle Rose/Body & Soul" was recorded in Kansas City, KS on May 11, 1940. Placing this chestnut more than one-third of the way into an almost chronological collection is incongruous and will not assist anyone who is trying to savor the man's artistic development over a stated span of thirteen years. That, after all, is what chronologies (and historic jazz collections) are for. The next-to-oldest recordings appear closer to where one would expect them to be -- at the very beginning of the collection. "Swingmatism" and the "Hootie Blues" were recorded for the Decca label in Dallas, TX on April 30, 1941 by Jay McShann & His Orchestra. Something like a chronological progression does manage to materialize, more or less, and when Bird isn't leading his own groups he is heard sitting in with bands led by Red Norvo, Slim Gaillard, and Dizzy Gillespie. While it's very nice to know that these great recordings continue to circulate, it's a damned shame they didn't place the titles in chronological sequence, for Charlie Parker's progress occurred swiftly and very dramatically and there's nothing quite like hearing him evolve, session by session and note by note. 

Charlie Parker - Chasin' the Bird (4 CD, 2005)

 

What sets apart the budget compilations on the Synergy label is their sound. Each track is remastered using a trademark process. The liner notes are workmanlike but offer helpful information to the novice (though there is no personnel listed). The material here comes from the fevered pitch of bebop's birth and covers the years 1946-48. Some of the classics on this collection are "Relaxin at Camarillo," "Yardbird Suite," "Parker's Mood," "Chasin the Bird," and "Moose the Mooche." For those seeking to have just a bit of Bird in their respective CD collections, this is a nice place to start.

Charlie Parker / The Man with the Saxophone (1941-1952) [10 CD, 2000/FLAC]

One of a handful of musicians who can be said to have permanently changed jazz, Charlie Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time. He could play remarkably fast lines that, if slowed down to half speed, would reveal that every note made sense. "Bird," along with his contemporaries Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell, is considered a founder of bebop; in reality he was an intuitive player who simply was expressing himself. Rather than basing his improvisations closely on the melody as was done in swing, he was a master of chordal improvising, creating new melodies that were based on the structure of a song. In fact, Bird wrote several future standards (such as "Anthropology," "Ornithology," "Scrapple from the Apple," and "Ko Ko," along with such blues numbers as "Now's the Time" and "Parker's Mood") that "borrowed" and modernized the chord structures of older tunes. Parker's remarkable technique, fairly original sound, and ability to come up with harmonically advanced phrases that could be both logical and whimsical were highly influential. By 1950, it was impossible to play "modern jazz" with credibility without closely studying Charlie Parker. 

Charlie Parker - The Complete Dean Benedetti Recordings Of Charlie Parker [7 CD, 1990/FLAC]

 

Dean Benedetti was a saxophone player best known for his recordings of fellow saxophonist Charlie Parker. As a tenor saxophonist and band leader in California, Benedetti first heard a record of Parker in the Spring of 1945. Deeply influenced by the player, Benedetti began to study Parker, transcribing solos, building them into set pieces, and working bop into his own playing.

A two week engagement at LA's Hi-De-Ho Club in early 1947, done on discs, was the start of Benedetti's recordings. In 1948, Benedetti headed to New York with bandmate Jimmy Knepper, and recorded Charlie Parker on March 31, and July 7, both of these on Sears tape recorder.
While in New York, Benedetti began to use heroin. Unable to break into the New York music scene, he returned to his parents home in California in 1948. Trying to finance their way back home, Benedetti and Knepper attempt to sell drugs. However, Knepper took the drugs with him back to LA and abandoned Benedetti in New York.

Shortly after returning to California, Benedetti discovered he had a rare muscle disease, Myasthenia Gravis. The disease affected his playing, and he soon quit performing in public. The disease ruined his health, and in 1953 he moved in with his parents in Italy. He died on January 20, 1957, at the age of 34.
The recordings he made of Parker were something of a jazz legend, until in 1988 these tapes and acetate discs were sold by his brother, Rick Benedetti, to Mosaic Records. The Complete Dean Benedetti Recordings of Charlie Parker box was released by Mosaic Records in 1990.

Charlie Parker- Bird- The Complete Charlie Parker On Verve (10 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve is a box set by jazz musician Charlie Parker. It features every extant note Parker recorded for the Verve label as well as his appearances at Jazz at the Philharmonic. Parker recorded for Verve primarily in the last five years of his life, a period during which, besides playing with his famous quintet, he experimented with strings, Afro-Cuban jazz and mixed chorus. Among the albums produced during Parker’s Verve years were Bird & Diz, Charlie Parker with Strings, and Swedish Schnapps.

Charlie Parker - The Complete Norman Granz Master Takes (4 CD, 2005/FLAC)

  

Charlie Parker's studio recordings have been issued, reissued (and de-issued, so to speak) in so many confusing combinations that anyone seeking a better understanding of his original discography might need a lodestone to hang onto. In addition to his excellent Savoy and Dial recordings, jazz lovers ought to have access to Definitive's wonderful survey of every master take that Bird ever recorded for producer Norman Granz. For years this exceptionally fine material was usually presented categorically, depending on thematic content ("South of the Border"), personae ("Bird and Diz") or instrumentation ("Bird with Strings"). Considered as a whole, this four-CD set is a stunning tribute to a master improviser. Neatly spanning a time period from December 1947 to December 1954, it includes Bird's very first Granz recording (made in Carnegie Hall without an audience); Bird's own big-band sessions; Bird's collaborations with Neal Hefti, Machito, Coleman Hawkins and trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Dorham, Miles Davis, Red Rodney and Benny Harris; three different sessions involving a chamber ensemble with strings; Bird's final quartet and quintet recordings, and a truly awe-inspiring All-Star Norman Granz Jam Session with a frontline consisting of Charlie Parker with Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter, Ben Webster, Flip Phillips and Charlie Shavers. The With Strings sessions sound better than ever when heard in context with the rest of the Parker/Granz collaborations. Here, then, is the Charlie Parker compilation to have, along with the Savoy and Dial master takes. This edition is supremely well-presented, and thoughtfully annotated with a written eulogy by Leonard Feather and a priceless set of transcribed reminiscences by legendary Kansas City bassist Gene Ramey.

Miles Davis - Out Of The Blue [10 CD, 2010]

 

A rich collection with 157 remastered original recordings of the legendary jazz musician covering the period 1945-1957. The superb sound of Miles' trumpet with a great variety of jazz ensembles like Charlie Parker's, Billy Eckstine's, Lee Konitz's, Gil Evans' and of course, his own quintet, sextet and nonet. Also enjoy Davis, backing the unique Sarah Vaughan in six ballads. A jazz gem in perfect sound quality.