FEBRUARY 18

                  CHARLIE PARKER
                  Bird at St. Nick's

   
                     St. Nicholas Arena, NYC
                     February 18, 1950

                     Personnel:

                         Red Rodney      TP
                         Charlie Parker  AS
                         Al Haig             P
                         Tommy Potter   B
                         Roy Haynes       D

              LINK Retired

 

Review by Scott Yanow
Veteran Charlie Parker collectors generally know that they should avoid all but his most famous live sessions. It is not that Parker plays badly on this CD reissue (in fact his solo on "Confirmation" is quite miraculous) but, as is often the case with these privately recorded sets, the recording quality is horrible. Bird (with trumpeter Red Rodney, pianist Al Haig, bassist Tommy Potter, and drummer Roy Haynes) plays quite well but these versions only hint at what the music must have sounded like.