Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Collection
This two-CD set is an ideal introduction to the music of Charlie Parker and the bop revolution. Its 38 tracks are culled from several labels, including Savoy and Dial, with many of them recorded between 1946 and 1949, the altoist's most creative period and the years in which he was reshaping jazz. This is music of luminous vitality--whether rapid-fire and manic, witty or tender. Musical ideas and feelings spun from Parker's horn with divine ease, every newly minted phrase drenched in meaning. Parker was changing the way the best young musicians played--whether saxophonists, pianists, or drummers--and it's apparent here in the supporting work of Miles Davis, Max Roach, Bud Powell, and a host of others.--Stuart Broomer