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Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948
Miles Davis
Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948
Genre: Jazz
 
  •  Track Listings (25) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (26) - Disc #2
  •  Track Listings (25) - Disc #3
  •  Track Listings (24) - Disc #4
  •  Track Listings (24) - Disc #5
  •  Track Listings (26) - Disc #6
  •  Track Listings (23) - Disc #7
  •  Track Listings (24) - Disc #8

Charlie "Bird" Parker's perfect attack on alto saxophone, along with his crystal-clear phrasing and high-velocity improvisations, made him one of the 20th century's most imitated musicians. This eight-CD set, which represe...  more »

     

CD Details

All Artists: Miles Davis
Title: Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Empire Music Group
Original Release Date: 1/1/1945
Re-Release Date: 10/3/2000
Album Type: Import
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Swing Jazz, Bebop
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 975679291120

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Charlie "Bird" Parker's perfect attack on alto saxophone, along with his crystal-clear phrasing and high-velocity improvisations, made him one of the 20th century's most imitated musicians. This eight-CD set, which represents the best remastering of Parker's fertile Dial and Savoy sides to date, was produced by veteran producer Orrin Keepnews. It includes the legendary roundtable of bebop knights: trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis; bassists Curly Russell and Tommy Potter; drummer Max Roach; and pianists Bud Powell, Duke Jordan, and John Lewis. Disc 1 begins with Parker as a sideman for guitarist Tiny Grimes, which yielded the pre-bop jump-blues sides "Tiny's Tempo" and "Romance Without Finance." The other tracks are first-generation bop classics: "Groovin' High," "Salt Peanuts," "Koko," and "Hot House." The remaining seven discs feature Bird's genius in other musical dimensions. Bird's recompositions of the standards "All the Things You Are," "Whispering," and "Embraceable You" stand out, as do the zesty "Barbados," "Bongo Bop," and "Night in Tunisia" (with the famous alto break). Underrated baritone Earl Coleman sings the ebony-embered ballad "Dark Shadows." But above all, Bird was a blues player. Nothing illustrates this better than the memorable blues ballad "Parker's Mood," on which his soulful, wailing alto is matched by John Lewis's rich, lyrical accompaniment. These tracks contain other gems, including a young and nervous Miles Davis sputtering Fats Navarro-style trumpet solos on "Milestones" and "Now's the Time," with Gillespie playing piano. Although he died at the age of 34 in 1955, Parker, along with Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, formed the Holy Trinity that created bebop, and this set is Bird flying high. --Eugene Holley Jr.
 

CD Reviews

Update on Disk 4
Jason | Washington, DC | 09/21/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I sent an e-mail last week to inquiries@savoyjazz.com requesting a replacement for the flawed disk 4. I received a new, corrected disk 5 days later. Excellent response. Tremendous collection."
Great Music - Terrible Packaging...
PeteB | 12/02/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd like to echo other reviewers thoughts about this package.Before you go on reading, let me say that I'm no Jazz expert, I just got into Jazz since viewing Ken Burns's documentary, and just fell in love with the sound of Bird. I never heard such virtuosity and creativeness on an instrument of any kind before or since then.Now on to THE MUSIC:The music on this CD set steams with energy. I've had this in my car player for about 3 months and haven't stopped listening to it!!! I personally like the extra takes of many of the tracks. I also don't mind the pitch control because I do not have other versions (from other CD compilations) to compare them to. Bottom line - great material to study and chill to.Now, the downer- THE PACKAGING STINKS!!!! - like many have stated, it is very hard to pull out and into the sleeves the CDs. You literally are touching the whole CD to get the darn thing in and out!! -- try to be very delicate with these discs!!
Also very troubling is the booklet that comes with the set. With all the pages that are contained therein, I always feel I am going to break the binding that holds them together - thus making it a little troublesome to read all the way through. Not to mention a lot of the text is in light brown (almost the color of the background itself) so it is hard to read. One more complaint - the only way to study the track listing - or follow along is to take this book out. -- Kinda wished it was on the outside or inside cover of the actual box! Oh well. If it wasn't for the packaging, this would posssibly have been the best box set I owned aside from the ones put out by Columbia and their treatment of the Miles Davis catalogue.Bottom Line: Newcomers beware - there is lots of music to absorb, but worth it if you have the time and the patience. And that goes for the packaging as well. If you are looking for a "lighter weight compilation", might I point you to check out the "Yardbird Suite" compilation put out by Rhino. 2 CDs of prime Bird!!! Word of warning before you open this - be patient getting out those CDs folks!!!"
Fascinating collection
PeteB | St Louis, MO | 08/28/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love this collection, but it appears that I have a "faulty" disc 4 as noted by previous reviewers.

I've tried contacting Savoy by phone, letter, e-mail but to no avail. Does anyone know how to go about getting a replacement "corrected" disc?

Thanks."