SEPTEMBER 29

            CHARLIE PARKER
            Bird & Diz

             Recording Date:
               NYC, June 6, 1950


             Personnel:
               Dizzy Gillespie   TP
               Charlie Parker    AS
               Thelonious Monk P
               Curly Russell       B
               Buddy Rich         D


           LINK




Reviewby Rick Anderson
This collection of 78 rpm singles, all recorded on June 6, 1950, was originally issued in album format in 1956. Several things distinguish this from numerous other quintet recordings featuring these two bebop pioneers. It was recorded during the period that Parker was working under the aegis of producer Norman Granz, whose preference for large and unusual ensembles was notorious. The end result in this case is a date that sounds very much like those that Parker and Gillespie recorded for Savoy and Dial, except with top-of-the-line production quality. Even more interesting, though, is Parker's choice of Thelonious Monk as pianist. Unfortunately, Monk is buried in the mix and gets very little solo space, so his highly idiosyncratic genius doesn't get much exposure here. Still, this is an outstanding album -- there are fine versions of Parker standards like "Leap Frog," "Mohawk," and "Relaxin' with Lee," as well as a burning performance of "Bloomdido" and an interesting (if not entirely thrilling) rendition of the chestnut "My Melancholy Baby." [The CD reissue adds three alternate takes to make what was originally a very skimpy program slightly more generous.]

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