Search - Charlie Parker :: Liveology

Excellent live Bird

Steve Frazier | Seattle | 11/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great overview of Bird live in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1952. I bought this mainly to get tracks 7 through 11, which were recorded at Birdland with an absolutely smokin' band consisting of Fats Navarro on trumpet, Bud Powell on piano, Curly Russell on bass and Art Blakey on drums. These tracks are floating around on various CD's and this release is one of the best ways to acquire these. These are absolutely top-notch Bird Live.



The first 6 tracks record Parker live at the Royal Roost with his core band rhythm section of Al Haig, piano, Tommy Potter, bass and Max Roach on drums. Miles Davis plays trumpet on a couple of numbers and Kenny Dorham on the others. These are great as well, though if you are a Bird collector you may already have these tracks -- they also are included on various CD's billed as "The Complete Live Savoy Recordings" or "The Royal Roost Recordings."



I must say the sound on these Royal Roost recordings is excellent -- I compared them with the Savoy re-issues (which I also have), and I like these better.



In any case, these are great tracks as well.



The final tracks are from the Rockland Palace recording of 1952. Some nice tracks here, too.



All in all a very nice cross section of Bird Live from this era and if you're looking to either start or fill out your collection of live Charlie Parker recordings this is a good purchase."

Bird in full flight

M. Bauer | Colorado | 01/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD makes an essential edition to The Dial/Savoy Masters. Here we have Charlie Parker live taken from tapes recorded in New York City at the Royal Roost, Birdland and Rockland Palace from 1948 to 1952. Parker takes more risks and flys higher in the live context. The fifteen tracks on this CD contain excellent performances, and the sound quality is quite good (particularly considering the times). Parker's support includes Bud Powell, Curly Russell and Art Blakey. Highly recommended.

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