What is the essential Charlie Parker album?

Question

I want to start listening to more Jazz alto saxophonists, and I know that Charlie Parker is one of the greats but I don't know which album to get. Which one is his best/essential album?

Answer 1

A tough call. You're better off with a Greatest Hits compilation, as many of his albums are out-of-print. The only one I have is the terrific "The Genius of Charlie Parker", though your best bet might be the two disc Yardbird Suite.



If you're truly desperately seeking an album and nothing else, a good choice would be "Bird 'n Diz", a collaborative effort with also-legendary Dizzy Gillespie. It's considered an essential bebop jazz album, so you'll want to listen to it sooner or later, and it's still being pressed.

Answer 2

Charlie Parker Albums

Answer 3

The Greatest Concert Ever, Jazz At Massey Hall. Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach. This is a classic live recording.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

What is the essential Charlie Parker album?

I want to start listening to more Jazz alto saxophonists, and I know that Charlie Parker is one of the greats but I don't know which album to get. Which one is his best/essential album?

Answer 5

I'd go for the Savoy Sessions. On these you'll hear all the classic sidemen/co-leaders: Dizzy, Miles, Bud Powell, Curley Russell, Al Haig, Max Roach, etc. as well as some cuts featuring Bird on tenor saxophone (of the four tenor tunes included, my favorite is "Half Nelson", a bop head over Tadd Dameron's "Lady Bird"). Check out the complete 4 CD version (includes alternate takes) here: http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=8436006494208

Answer 6

Duke Ellington - At Newport (big band) The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall (bebop) Max Roach - Jazz in ¾ Time (bebop) Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool (cool jazz) Dave Brubeck - Time Out (cool jazz) Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners (hardbop) John Coltrane - Blue Train (hardbop) Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um (hardbop) Sun Ra - Space Is The Place (avant-garde) Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch (avant-garde) Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (fusion) Billy Cobham - Spectrum (fusion) Tito Puente - Dance Mania (latin) Machito - Kenya (latin) Cachao Lopez - Master Sessions Volume I (latin) or any collection you can get by Louis Armstrong Cab Calloway or Django Reinhardt oh yea and Ella Fitzgerald if you want some good vocal jazz. (or if you wanna hear some awesome scat singing)

Answer 7

Verve has a 4 vol. lp named "The Essential Charley Parker" (Probably at your library for check-out).

Also try to find these songs:" "Honeysuckle Rose", "Now's The Time", and "Loverman"'.

Also check out Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and Chet Baker (a white guy)