Bird Up: The Charlie Parker Remix Project

Bird Up: The Charlie Parker Remix Project

ASIN: B0000DCYQP

Editorial Reviews
From URB Magazine
To jazz fans, Charlie Parker (aka Bird) is legendary, a musical genius and an icon of cool. To mess with (or re-imagine) his work is tantamount to blasphemy. TourŽ writes in his liner notes, "It takes a genius to dance with a genius." Though certainly a statement of fact, it's out of place here. They may be emerging stars, but it's a bit too early to call Serj Tankian (frontman for System of a Down), Rob Swift (of the X-ecutioners), El-P, RZA and the rest of the assembled cast geniuses. As impressive a crew as it is, these remixes just don't work. The more experimental re-workings by Serj Tankian on "Bird of Paradise (Gone)" and Hal Willner's Whoops I'm an Indian on "Salt Peanuts (The Mr. Peanut Chronicles)" just seem to be exercises in ego. The better contributions come in the form of Dan the Automator's take on "Perhaps (Someday the Roof Will Get Fixed)" and Me'shell NdegŽOcello's interpretation of "Relaxin' at Camarillo (August 29)," where Parker's original compositions are simply complemented by new grooves and beats. It's highly overrated, but perhaps Bird Up! will succeed by helping a new generation of listeners discover the genius of "Yardbird" and the lesser-known talents on this record.

Barnaby Dick

Tracks:

Now's The Time (No Time Like Now) - Red Hawk
Relaxin' At Camarillo - Me'shell Ndegeocello
Salt Peanuts (The Mr. Peanut Chronicles) - Hal Willner's Whoops I'm An Indian
Bird Of Paradise (Gone) - Serj Tankian
Congo Blues (Silencer) - Donk
Bebop (Live At Rooftop) - The Rza
Steeplechase (Sittin' On 22's) - Dan The Automator
Cheers (X-ecutioners Style) - Rob Swift
A Night In Tunisia (Downpour) - Donk
All The Shadows Of Nuff - Hal Willner's Whoops I'm An Indian
Perhaps (Someday The Roof Will Get Fixed) - Dan The Automator
Barbados (Where Fish Fly) - Hubert Laws
Constellation (Heavenly Bodies) - El-P

Customer Reviews:

Beware!.......2007-01-26

This is not Charlie Parker, this is a terrible concoction. I didn't read carefully, bought the wrong CD. This is just a lot of modern garbage that sounds worse than radio static. I wanted a Parker CD because he plays a King Super 20, two members of our household play that sax. But you won't hear The Bird on this CD. Really misleading to write "BIRD UP" on the label!

just not fun.......2006-08-08

I'm not a big fan of this album. Why? It isn't because I hold Charlie Parker in a pantheon of untouchable greats--I think anyone and everyone should be open to being remixed, no matter how venerable their status in the halls of music. No, the reason I don't like this album is because it seems like the remixers didn't care about the music they remixed--a good remix compliments the original, it doesn't just cut and paste certain moments from old songs. you've got to find that original spirit and soul thats in the work, the original "wow" moment, and lend your voice to the chorus--every song that is being remixed is a communication from the artist (charlie parker) to the audience as a whole--they are trying to tell us something--something about what it means to be alive and human--a remixer's job is not to just take old recordings and make them totally new and hip. a remixer's got to be saying, "oh yeah charlie, I understand, here's what your song said to me, here's what your song meant to me"--most of those songs on this album feel like some electronic guy who's never cared about charlie parker a day in his/her life just got a cd in the mail with directions to "remix it"--so he goes about cutting and pasting random parts into places in some pre-thought-out electronic/hiphop song that has nothing to do with the original--and that's too bad--another complaint I have is that they use original, poor audio quality, recordings--remixing these with high production sounds produces a clashing mix--now I know that this is suppossed to pay reverence to Mr. Parker himself, but the difference in sound quality between the old sounds and the new sounds becomes a somewhat grating experience--either make the new sounds sound like old ones, or rework the old sounds to the same level of fidelity

Depends On Your Taste.......2006-07-11

This disc really didn't do too much for me. Keep in mind that doesn't mean that you shouldn't buy this because this is very much going to be an individual preference type thing. It just wasn't my cup of tea, that's all. So my rating is solely based on my personal experience and should not deter those who feel they would be interested in this.

There have been some flames thrown between reviewers on this album so let me just say this: I think it is great that these guys got together and decided to do a tribute to Charlie Parker. I would also hope that people would purchase Bird's original recordings as well so they can get an idea of what his music was really like and hopefully get an idea of how much of a true genius the man was. There have been complaints of snobbery by other reviewers and an unwillingness of older generations to accept the music of younger generations. I will say this: I am a musician and in my mid twenties and I will freely admit that when it comes to snobbery in music my generation and the ones younger than me tend to be the snobs most of the time. There are so many younger people nowadays who have no knowledge (and don't care to learn about) the musicains that came before them. That truly is a shame because we must always keep in mind that if it wasn't for those who came before us, we wouldn't be here. And I do agree with the statement that music today is way too much about image and not about making good music. I also agree with the statement that house and hip hop have their roots in jazz. Now here's another question for you: Before you go ripping on older people for not realizing that house and hip hop came out of jazz, how many younger people today know that those musical forms have their roots in jazz and could name any of those great jazz musicians that came first and paved the way for the house/hip hop guys out there today?

Finally, there's been the question of whether or not Bird would have liked this recording. Would Bird have approved of this recording? Who can say? He's not here to give his opinion and I'm not going to go putting words into the man's mouth.

Snobs Ahoy!.......2006-03-06

I am very disappointed at the pervasive negativity here. It's a real shame there are so many narrow-minded snobs (namely one "Jay from Chicago") who are so foolishly set in their ways, that they think anything new, modern, or part of a "younger generation" is automatically inferior to the one or two styles of music they so foolishly limit themselves to. Styles like hip hop and electronica evolved from jazz, and only the most ignorant of "music fans" would claim there's no talent or creativity within these styles.

Anyone who is willing to stop shouting "Blasphemy!" long enough to actually LISTEN to the damn thing should be able to see that this is a reverent, and very well-made tribute. With artists like Dan the Automator, Serj Tankian, El-P, RZA, and Hubert Laws, there's a wide variety of interesting sounds here. Hal Willner's Whoops I'm an Indian (cool name, isn't it?) make some particularly noteworthy contributions as well.

So, all of you who possess an open mind, and aren't hopelessly lost in the past, I urge you to give this a chance. Hell, I bet even Charlie himself would approve of this work, despite what the old-timers may want to believe. After all, the true essence of jazz was all about looking to the future, not the past.

Forgettable.......2005-10-17

When I got this, I thought the basic concept seemed interesting. This album, however, has left me totally underwhelmed. Some of the cuts are nice, but most of it is uninteresting. Here is an example complaint: On "Cheers," the X-excutioners are skilled at their turntables, but they don't show any imagination because all they do is mimic the original melodic lines. So, the result of this album is no good. Also the liner notes really suck. The writer, Touré, uses an absurd amount of hyperboles, mixed metaphors, and braggadocio.

I suppose you could look elsewhere for remixed jazz. Although I suggest a few orignal Parker albums instead.