Charlie Parker, Early Bird - 1h 14m 50s

Tracks & Durations

1. Swingmatism	2:43
2. The Jumpin' Blues	3:07
3. I Found A New Baby	3:02
4. Body And Soul	2:53
5. Moten Swing	2:50
6. Coquette	3:13
7. Lady Be Good	2:58
8. Honeysuckle Rose	3:03
9. Cherokee	2:50
10. Sweet Georgia Brown	7:44
11. Red Cross	3:19
12. Floogie Boo	4:03
13. Groovin' High	2:41
14. Dizzy Atmosphere	2:47
15. All The Things You Are	2:47
16. Salt Peanuts	3:16
17. Shaw 'Nuff	3:00
18. Lover Man	3:23
19. Hot House	3:09
20. The Street Beat	2:37
21. Now's The Time	3:17
22. Thriving on a Riff (Anthropology)	3:01
23. Koko	2:55

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

The young Charlie Parker is a mythic figure, portrayed in Clint Eastwood's film Bird and Robert Altman's film Kansas City. Traces of his musical beginnings are scant, but much of what exists can be found on this collection of recordings that begins when Parker was 20 years old. Several tracks come from a Wichita broadcast by a Jay McShann-led octet. The band swings brilliantly, and there are outstanding solos by Parker on "Moten Swing," "Oh, Lady Be Good!" and "Honeysuckle Rose," demonstrating what was already an advanced musical conception. An amateur recording of "Cherokee," from Minton's Playhouse, is a unique example of Parker playing in the birthplace of bop. Bird's influences are more apparent here than they would be later, with sources in Lester Young and Roy Eldridge in evidence, but his work already has the stamp of originality. These are essential building blocks in his music, some of the earliest work of jazz history's greatest improviser. --Stuart BroomerHe wasn't a legend in 1941, not even a star; rather, he was a kid with the Kansas City blues playing in Jay McShann's Orchestra, the alto sax player propping up the swing with half a dozen other men. He's a sideman throughout the bulk of this 23-song disc. Here is Parker killing time in McShann or Gillespie or Cootie Williams' bands. Those seeking to find a few revelations through all this static and history are likely to come away disappointed. It's like trying to understand where "Purple Haze" came from while listening to a young Jimi Hendrix playing with the Isley Brothers. This disc does contain the birth- of-bop masterpiece "Cherokee," when Parker decided dissonance beget beauty. Better to buy the Yardbird Suite, which weeds out the best-of and tosses out the rest-of. You may not find a better performance of "Shaw 'Nuff," but you will find one that sounds better. --Robert Wilonsky

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