Charlie Parker - The Complete Verve Master Takes

In a remarkably short span of time, Charlie Parker rewrote the rules of jazz and established himself as one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century. Parker made his mark in many ways -- as a virtuoso saxophonist, and innovative composer, a trend-setting bandleader, and a galvanizing force in the development of modern jazz. He was on this earth for only thirty-four years, but he left behind several lifetimes' worth of immortal music.

Much of that music was documented by Norman Granz, the legendary record producer and founder of Verve Records, between 1947 and late 1954, just a few months before Parker's death. These three discs contain the master takes from every studio session Parker did for Granz, including the famous Charlie Parker With Strings recordings. With an all-star supporting cast that features Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, and many others.

This deluxe package includes:
- 73 tracks on 3 CDs
- almost 4 hours of music
- a 60-page booklet
- many rare photographs Album Description

Bird saint now !

I write reviews since I knew Amazon but I have always been afraid thinkin' about writing a Charlie Parker review because he is so important to me and he is, I mean, Charlie Parker. I think every word is unusuful here to describe what a giant he has been and how much important his recordings are not only for me but for the entire Jazz community. I think his music speaks for his genius. Anyway. What he did was "simply" reinventing Jazz from it's fondamentals. He literaly invent modern jazz. Sorry if it's not enough. He established the new language, he create the idiom almost from nothing. Obviously he had his influnces but he cooked them through his genius and his creativity and he came in with something absolutly new, absolutly unique, absolutly pure genius. Absolutly Parker. Bebop. Bebop and Charlie Parker are synonimous. And bebop is in every Jazz record since 1938. Even today. No jazz musician can play today without being perfectly aware of Bird language and musical discoveries. An without playing them. Even the most atonal player will play a couple of things that you can relate to Bird. Bird is simply modern jazz. I, as a jazz musicians myself, am completly in love with Bird music and language. I'm trying to play my own things but his things are so right, so logial, so perfect you can't do nothing but playing them everywhere. Every musician after him have learned his language, maybe developing it their ways, but ... the modern jazz language is Bird phrasing and composing. Period.

Talking about Bird's music I think everything from the man deserved to be listened. Personally I own more than 150 Bird cd's (not mentioning all the thousands jazz records I own which are related to Bird and his language). I treasure even the ones recorded in the worst way. In the end it's always genius at work. After a while you will discover that he had his own licks and ideas which return here and there, the same things he returned to in his music, in his improvisations I mean, but they are his trademarks licks, his signs. Don't worry, his genius and fantasy will surprise you at every music corner, and in bebop there are a lot believe me! Maybe he could sound uninspired one moment and absolutly stellar one second later. Who can dream to play better than Bird? There are no Trane, no Miles, no Bud, no Ming, no Brownie, even no Diz for me even if I really love them all. But BIRD!

Verve records are some of the best recorded music he did. He was not at his peak which was some years prior to this recordings but he is still Bird. Verve's records are good without a doubt, think about Bird and Diz, Hi fi, With strings and you have the picture. Here they are very well presented in a remastered edition. Stylistically this edition is splendid. Verve did it big this time. The box seems a metal sigars box. Inside birds, colours, pictures, graphisms, chromed papers flourish for a quite spectacular effect. Absolutly the best bird box from an aestethically point of view. The music, well. It's Bird stuff. He graced so many lifes and gave so much pleasure to so many persons of every race and of every generation since 1940 with his music, he has been so much important to so many people and musicians that I'm absolutly not afraid in askying loud ...

BIRD SAINT NOW! December 1, 2005

Worth every penny

You get a whole lot, for a whole little amount of money with this box set. Which is rare for Verve, becuase usually get alot, for paying alot. With that said, this box set really opened my eyes to what Parker was capable of. I have hundreds of jazz cd's (from New Orleans to the Avant Garde) and I never got into Parker. I was missing out on alot. The Charlie Parker with Strings sets are beautiful, and the latter bop sessions with Max Roach and Roy Hanes swing like mad. The only problem is that the sessions change sound quality a little bit. Some of the sessions sound perfect. (ie. The Bebop Sessions with "Kim" sounds like it was recorded in 2005) and some sound bad for even the time (The last two Spanish Orchestra Tracks on the second disc, and the Big Band Sessions). And some sound just fine for the time (Charle Parker with Strings). This is a minor complant because the music here is great. April 23, 2005

wonderful music, of course! but...

...what an ugly cover! seriously repulsive design! ugh! what were they thinking?!?!

-yakov. January 31, 2005

An inexpensive way to get Bird's Verve years

For those new to Charlie Parker, his output roughly can be summarized by two collections (not taking into account the rarer sessions of his early years or the recordings made under Dizzy Gillespie's name): the sides he recorded for the Dial and Savoy labels between 1944 and 1948, and the sides he recorded for Verve (Mercury/Norgran/Clef) from 1948 until his death. So you can get an excellent Bird retrospective by purchasing a "Savoy and Dial" box set and a "Verve" box set. Until this collection came along, many people bought the $150 "Complete Bird on Verve." It contains alternate takes, live recordings, and 5 or 6 tracks not under his leadership. I wouldn't recommend that set to anyone but ardent ornithologists. You probably don't want to listen to 11 takes of "Leap Frog." You'll have to decide if the live and "non-leader" tracks are worth the extra $100.

With this set, you get all the master takes of the studio recordings in a very handsome package. It comes in a tin case and a 70+ page booklet. It covers the bebop recordings he did with Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, with Miles Davis, with Kenny Dorham, and with Red Rodney, among others. Also here are the famous "Charlie Parker with Strings" sessions, latin-flavored sides, and the big band sessions (including some with the great Gil Evans).

Many people argue that the Verve years were too controlled by producer Norman Granz, who cultivated a kinder, gentler Bird, in comparison to the rawer, bluesier, more energetic classic bebop recordings on Savoy and Dial. While I also prefer those earlier sessions, I cannot find any fault with the Verve sides. Different? Yes. Inferior? No. C'mon, this is Bird we're talking about! These recordings are teeming with magic (take a listen to "Just Friends" for proof). This is a must-have for any self-respecting music fan.

To clarify comments made by a reviewer below, no songs are missing. This is a collection of studio recordings under Charlie Parker's name. "Repetition" is credited to the Neal Hefti Orchestra, the four latin sides mentioned are by Machito and His Orchestra, and the Hawkins track was recorded under no one's name in particular. I agree: it would have been nice to have included those on a fourth CD, but I think Verve was trying to make this a more affordable 3CD set.

By the way, if you want a Savoy and Dial Masters box set, two good sets are out there: the $50 Savoy-released set (search on Amazon) or the less handsome, but cheaper (and slightly better sounding) "Studio Chronicle 1940-1948" by JSP. This latter one has the additional benefit of including early sides with Jay McShann, those under Gillespie's name, and all but two of those mentioned as missing by the reviewer below (the two recorded after 1948). Highly recommended! August 12, 2004

essential

The remastering on this set is outstanding.Bird was know for such things as his dexterity, speed, expanding the blues, etc. But with the great sound of these cds, you can hear Charlie Parker's beautiful tone with combos, strings, etc.The acoustic bass which is driving the rhythm can be felt and so can the "bombs" from the drummers. Desert island disc-when you can sing along with these solos you begin to appreciate this great artist. January 22, 2004

More reviews at Amazon.com ...