MAY 16

               CHARLIE PARKER
              At Birdland

                 Recording Date:
                     May 15-16, 1950

                 Personnel:
                    Fats Navarro    TP
                    Charlie Parker  AS
                    Bud Powell       P
                    Curly Russell     B
                    Art Blakey        D


                  





Review by Scott Yanow

The recording date may be suspect (trumpeter Fats Navarro died of tuberculosis only a week later) and the recording quality is not state of the art but the music on this two-LP set is often quite brilliant. Charlie Parker is teamed with Navarro, pianist Bud Powell, bassist Curley Russell and drummer Art Blakey for extended (usually six- to ten-minute) versions of 13 songs including "'Round Midnight" (the only time that Bird ever recorded a Thelonious Monk tune), "Move," "Out of Nowhere" and "Ornithology." The all-star lineup clearly inspired each other, making this two-fer well worth searching for.