The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes

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Total Tracks: 65   Total Length: 187:39

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Britt Robson

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Britt Robson has written about jazz for Jazz Times, downbeat, the Washington Post and many other publications over the past 30 years. He currently writes regula...more »

02.23.10
Find your own favorites, and let Bird's genius beguile you
2009 | Label: Savoy Jazz

You can quibble about the title — this isn't every master take Bird performed for the Savoy and Dial labels — but not about the 65 tracks, which strike a balance between too succinct and too voluminous in documenting how Bird revolutionized jazz saxophone in the mid-1940s and established bebop, perhaps permanently, as the music's dominant subgenre.

The collection includes a smattering of oddities — the novelty vocal tracks with guitarist-singer Tiny Grimes among the first four songs, or the infamous, drug-and-stress related wooziness of "Lover Man" — tucked within the most vital and influential work of Parker's legendary career. Specifically, landmark renditions of "Koko" (Bird's first great kamikaze flight, based on the changes to "Cherokee"), the relentless "Ornithology," the eminently tuneful "Yardbird Suite," and later classics such as "Chasin' The Bird," "Bird In Paradise" and "Parker's Mood" are integral parts of the jazz canon.

In other words, this is absolutely essential music for any jazz fan. But do yourself a favor and don't take it too seriously. Let the completists kvetch about how and why some of the alternate takes might have been superior inclusions, or that there is more of Dizzy Gillespie on piano than trumpet here (unfortunately,… read more »

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Through the miracle of high-resolution digital transfer and mastering technology, Bird enthusiasts can now get an earful of the shape of Charlie Parker’s musical accomplishments for Savoy and Dial in the 1940s. Available as a three-disc box set, the alto saxophonist is recorded in various configurations as performer and bandleader with such mainstream jazz greats as trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, pianists Bud Powell and Erroll Garner, drummer Max Roach, trombonist J.J. Johnson, and bassist Ray Brown, to name but a few. Charlie Parker draws on his pungent roots and rhythms of the Kansas City jazz scene on “Parker’s Mood” and makes a deep statement of the existence of the blues in the jazz tradition. His freedom and rapid-fire sax lines on “Yardbird Suite” serve to confirm his excellence in crafting polished improvisations and solos. One of Parker’s strongest compositions, “Orinithology,” is pure, unadulterated bebop, and the unique sound of Parker’s alto saxophone is clearly articulated through smoothly executed phrasings and cutting, focused energy. Parker picks up the tenor saxophone with the Miles Davis All-Stars on such great songs as “Milestones” and “Sippin’ at Bell’s.” Overall, Bird audiophiles, jazz educators, and historians should be prepared to be impressed. This collection is arguably Bird’s most important recording studio work. – Paula Edelstein

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