Tonight we celebrate the music of Charlie Parker, a genius of modern music and one of the most important musicians in the history of jazz, born August 29, 1920.
Along with a handful of other jazz greats, he exemplifies Schopenhauer's insight that talent achieves what others cannot achieve, whereas genius achieves what others cannot even imagine. More than anyone, it was Charlie Parker who imagined bebop.
| Swingmatism (Dallas, 1941) Jay McShann - Kansas City Bounce, 1940-1949 |
| Cherokee Clark Monroe's Band - after-hours recording at Clark Monroe's Uptown House(1942) |
| Tiny's Tempo Tiny Grimes Quintette - The Immortal Charlie Parker vol. 1 |
| Red Cross Tiny Grimes Quintette - The Immortal Charlie Parker vol. 1 |
| On most of the early Parker tracks the trumpeter was either Dizzy Gillespie or Miles Davis. On "Now's The Time", Mile is on trumpet, Dizzy plays the piano. |
| Now's The Time (1945) Charlie Parker's Reboppers - The Savoy Story |
| Now's The Time Ernest Ranglin - Now Is The Time (1975) |
| Koko (1945) Charlie Parker's Reboppers - Bebop Spoken Here (VA compilation) |
| Ornithology (LA, 1946) Charlie Parker Septet - Bebop Spoken Here |
| Ornithology Archie Shepp & Niels Henning Orsted Peterson - Looking At Bird (1980) |
| Relaxing At Camarillo (LA, 1947) Charlie Parker All Stars - The Engine Room (VA compilation) |
| Groovin' High (fade) Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie - At Carnegie Hall (1947) |
| Embraceable You (1947) Charlie Parker Quintet - Bebop Spoken Here |
| Parker's Mood (1948) Charlie Parker Quintet - The Savoy Story |
| Parker's Mood (1953) King Pleasure - The Beat Generation (VA compilation) |
| My Little Suede Shoes Charlie Parker's Jazzers - S/T (1951) |
| Don't Blame Me Charlie Parker - Montreal 1953 |
| I'll Walk Alone Charlie Parker Quartet - Charlie Parker At Storyville (1953) |
| Salt Peanuts Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach - Jazz At Massey Hall (1953) |
| Salt Peanuts Available Jelly - S/T (1984) |
| Perdido Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach - Jazz At Massey Hall |
| Donna Lee (Gil Evans, arr) Claude Thornhill & His Orchestra - Bebop Spoken Here |
| Billie's Bounce Albert Ayler - My Name Is Albert Ayler (1964) |
| Confirmation Stan Getz & Albert Dailey - Poetry (1983) |
| Cheryl (1947) Charlie Parker - The Immortal Charlie Parker vol. 1 |
| Scrapple From The Apple Dexter Gordon - Our Man in Paris (1963) |
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