Charles Parker Jr., nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique, and advanced harmonies. He was a virtuoso and introduced revolutionary rhythmic and harmonic ideas into jazz, including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. Primarily a player of the alto saxophone, Parker's tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber.
Jazz at Massey Hall is a live jazz album featuring a performance by "The Quintet" given on 15 May 1953 at Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The quintet was composed of five leading 'modern' players of the day: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach. It was the only time that the five musicians recorded together as a unit, and it was the last recorded meeting of Parker and Gillespie.
"Yardbird Suite" is a bebop standard composed by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker in 1946. The title combines Parker's nickname "Yardbird" and a colloquial use of the classical music term "suite". The composition uses an 32-bar AABA form. The "graceful, hip melody, became something of an anthem for beboppers."
The Amazing Bud Powell, also called The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1, is an album by jazz pianist Bud Powell, first released on Blue Note in April 1952, as a 10" vinyl. It is part of a loosely connected series with the 1954 companion The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2 and the 1957 Bud! The Amazing Bud Powell , all released on Blue Note. The album details two recording sessions. In the first, recorded on August 9, 1949, Powell performed in quintet with Fats Navarro, Sonny Rollins, Tommy Potter and Roy Haynes, and in trio with Potter and Haynes. In the second, on May 1, 1951, Powell performed in trio with Curley Russell and Max Roach, and solo.
"Groovin' High" is an influential 1945 song by jazz composer and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. The song was a bebop mainstay that became a jazz standard, one of Gillespie's best known hits, and according to Bebop: The Music and Its Players author Thomas Owens, "the first famous bebop recording". The song is a complex musical arrangement based on the chord structure of the 1920 standard originally recorded by Paul Whiteman, "Whispering", with lyrics by John Schonberger and Richard Coburn (né Frank Reginald DeLong; 1886–1952) and music by Vincent Rose. The biography Dizzy characterizes the song as "a pleasant medium-tempo tune" that "demonstrates...[Gillespie's] skill in fashioning interesting textures using only six instruments".
Charlie Parker on Dial: The Complete Sessions is a 1993 four-disc box set collecting jazz saxophonist and composer Charlie Parker's 1940s recordings for Dial Records. The box set, released by the English label Spotlite Records, assembled into a single package the multi-volume compilation albums the label had released by Spotlite on vinyl in the 1970s under the series title Charlie Parker on Dial. The box set has been critically well received. In 1996, a different box set collecting Parker's work with Dial was assembled by Jazz Classics and released as Complete Charlie Parker on Dial.
The Cooker is an album by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan, released on the Blue Note label in January 1958. It was recorded on September 29, 1957, and features a quintet with Morgan, Pepper Adams, Bobby Timmons, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones.
The Complete Last Concert is a double CD live album by American jazz group the Modern Jazz Quartet featuring performances recorded at Avery Fisher Hall in 1974 and released on the Atlantic label originally as a double album The Last Concert (1975) and More from the Last Concert (1981) before the complete edition was released in 1988.
Far Cry is the third album by jazz musician Eric Dolphy, released in 1962 on New Jazz Featuring a quintet co-led with trumpeter Booker Little, it is one of the few recordings of their partnership. Pianist Jaki Byard, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Roy Haynes all return from earlier Dolphy albums. This was a busy time for Dolphy- he took part in Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz session and recorded this album on the same day, and had participated in the Jazz Abstractions project the previous day.
Birth and Rebirth is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach and saxophonist Anthony Braxton recorded in 1978 for the Italian Black Saint label.
Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band is an album of bebop jazz standards by American drummer Paul Motian originally released on the German JMT label. It was the first release by the Electric Bebop Band, which featured the veteran drummer working mainly with younger musicians and which subsequently became one of Motian's primary groups until the end of his life.
Musician, composer, Raconteur is a live album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1981 and released on the Pablo label.
To Bird with Love is a live album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie with an array of guest stars. It was recorded at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City on January 23–25, 1992 and released on the Telarc label. Gillespie's performances at the club in January and February of that year yielded two additional live albums, Bird Songs: The Final Recordings and To Diz with Love. Together, these three titles represent his final recordings prior to his death in 1993.
The Final Sessions is an album by jazz pianist Elmo Hope which compiles sessions recorded in 1966, originally released as Last Sessions Volume One and Last Sessions Volume Two on the Inner City label in 1977.
Trio and Duet is an album by American jazz saxophonist Anthony Braxton recorded in 1974 and released on the Canadian Sackville label. The album features a trio performance of one of Braxton's compositions and three duets on jazz standards. It was reissued in 2015 by Delmark Records, which purchased the catalog of the Sackville label, with two bonus tracks.
Theme for Monterey is an album by the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, recorded in 1997 and released on the MAMA label.
Twelve Compositions is a double CD live album by American saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton, recorded at Yoshi's in 1993 and released on the Music & Arts label.
Trio (London) 1993 is a live album featuring performances by saxophonists Anthony Braxton and Evan Parker and trombonist Paul Rutherford which was recorded at the Bloomsbury Theatre as part of the 1993 London Jazz Festival and released on the Leo label.
Bird Lives! is a live album by multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan which was recorded in Chicago in 1962 and released on the Vee-Jay label on LP before being reissued as a double CD with additional material in 1993.
Yardbird Suite is an album by saxophonist Frank Morgan which was recorded in 1988 and released on the Contemporary label.
