Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charlie Parker

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charlie Parker

ASIN: B000050I3S

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Charlie Parker is one of the legendary figures of jazz, a musician whose troubled life and creative genius have inspired works like Clint Eastwood's film Bird. As this collection demonstrates, though, the legend could never be larger than the art. Parker was simply one of the two or three greatest improvisers ever to play jazz. He created solos of unmatched harmonic and rhythmic subtlety at tempos few musicians could even negotiate. This selection provides a unique single-CD introduction to Parker's work, touching on his earliest recordings with the blues-based Kansas City band of Jay McShann and the early collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie that marked the dawn of bop. The period of Parker's greatest creativity was brief, and it spanned several record companies--Savoy, Dial, and Verve--all of them represented here. Among the masterpieces are the slow blues of "Parker's Mood" and the stunning "Just Friends," with Parker's liquid alto cascading brilliantly over a small string section. --Stuart Broomer

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charlie Parker,Charlie Parker,Polygram Records,Big Band,Bop,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop

Average customer rating:

but the sound!

Excellent single-disc collection

Fly with The Bird!

good godfrey, clean this up!

great music, horrible sound

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Dizzy Gillespie

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: John Coltrane

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Thelonious Monk

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Duke Ellington

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Count Basie

ASIN: B000050I3S
Release Date: 2000-11-07

Tracks:

Sepian Bounce (with Jay McShann & His Orchestra)
Salt Peanuts
Hot House
KoKo
Anthropology
Now's The Time
Ornithology
Yardbird Suite
Lover Man
Relaxin' At Camarillo
Embraceable You
Scrapple Form The Apple
Parker's Mood
Just Friends
Star Eyes
Confirmation

Amazon.com

Charlie Parker is one of the legendary figures of jazz, a musician whose troubled life and creative genius have inspired works like Clint Eastwood's film Bird. As this collection demonstrates, though, the legend could never be larger than the art. Parker was simply one of the two or three greatest improvisers ever to play jazz. He created solos of unmatched harmonic and rhythmic subtlety at tempos few musicians could even negotiate. This selection provides a unique single-CD introduction to Parker's work, touching on his earliest recordings with the blues-based Kansas City band of Jay McShann and the early collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie that marked the dawn of bop. The period of Parker's greatest creativity was brief, and it spanned several record companies--Savoy, Dial, and Verve--all of them represented here. Among the masterpieces are the slow blues of "Parker's Mood" and the stunning "Just Friends," with Parker's liquid alto cascading brilliantly over a small string section. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

but the sound!.......2007-06-16

Wonderful selection of tracks, but the reviewers who commented on the sound quality are correct, it's unbearable. LOUD hissing. I have 35 year old Parker LPs that sound better. I was swayed to buy it by the many positive reviews. I was wrong, the sound guys were right.

Excellent single-disc collection.......2006-10-22

It would be a shame to go through life with only one CD of Charlie Parker music, but an even greater shame to own none. So if you're standing on the brink of deciding whether to buy this, get it! As of this writing it appears to be the single best and broadest overview of Parker's work available on a single disc. (Though if you want to spend a bit more, get the 4-disc set "Boss Bird" on Proper Records, here at Amazon).

This disc is a fine overview of Bird's career, going all the way back to his days with the Jay McShann in Kansas City and extending into the end of his career in the early 50's. It also contains one of the single most moving and poignant recordings in the history of jazz, "Lover Man," recorded in LA when he was so strung out on booze and drugs he coud hardly move, much less play.

There are some complaints here about sound quality; from what I can tell this CD is up to the standards of 40's and 50's jazz recordings -- this is what you get. If they apply more sound reduction, you end up losing the music.

Again, a great place to start.

Fly with The Bird!.......2005-08-23

Here's a good introduction to the music of the amazing Charlie Parker. It begins with a recording Parker made as a member of Jay McShann's orchestra then continues through his all-too-brief career with some essential recordings he made for Savoy, Dial and various labels produced by Norman Granz (which were later reissued on the Verve label).
No individual CD can contain all of Parker's most important recordings but this one scans The Bird's years as a recording artist better than any other single-CD collection.
If you're looking for one CD that will introduce you to the artistry of a true American musical genius, this is the one to get.

good godfrey, clean this up!.......2004-12-29

I don't know much about how they remaster and transfer music to CD's, but it sounds as if the originals were used to sweep up the studio floor and then transferred to CD. Horrible, horrible quality made me eject this CD four songs in, I just can't listen to it, so now it sits on my shelf collecting dust. It's a great collection from a true genious, but Ken Burns should be ashamed to put his name on this disc sounding the way it does. I've heard hisses and pops, but my old records sound way better than this :-(

great music, horrible sound.......2003-01-26

Ken Burns and company have assembled some classic Parker takes, but the sound quality is dismal. Yes, we know these recordings were made before the advent of tape, etc.--I don't think most people interested in Parker recordings are looking for pristine studio sound, but this is a disgrace. I have many C.P. recordings, including lots of old Verve and Savoy issues on LP--none of them sound as bad as this CD. Not just surface noise, but actual musical distortion that could have been mitigated with today's technology. I was suckered into this one by the Burns affiliation, since I had enjoyed the TV jazz series. Not a fraction of the care put into that effort was expended on the CD. There is so much Parker out there today put out with more care; I would look to the Dial and Savoy sessions, for example.

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music