Customer Reviews

Boss Bird: Studio Recordings, 1944-1951

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This has almost all of Bird's studio work on four CDs without any hard-to-hear live recordings or annoying partial takes. With masters from Savoy, Dial and Verve, it covers more ground than either the Rino collection or the Savoy and Dial box, which has 8 discs and costs five times as much. It doesn't have every tune you can imagine, for instance with 101 tracks there wasn't room for one version of Confirmation. And there are times when it would be nice to listen to Bird puzzle his way through all the takes of Parker's Mood. But this box gives you four great CDs that each play over 70 minutes and showcase a stage in the career of the greatest improvisor in modern jazz. Even if you own the other collections, this one is worth buying. This is the Parker set I will listen too again and again, and I'm so happy it has finally been put together in this form. The book is weak -- full of trivia and short in insight -- but at this price I won't complain (any further.)

This is the finest overall collection now available (and at a great price). The best years of this genius' work are here with outstanding selections from Dial, Savoy and Verve. Bird flies in all his glory here. A good text accompanies the 4 discs. No way to top this box set for the quality, range and price.

This is the finest overall collection now available (and at a great price). The best years of this genius' work are here with outstanding selections from Dial, Savoy and Verve. Bird flies in all his glory here. A good text accompanies the 4 discs. No way to top this box set for the quality, range and price.

I got this for xmas, based on all the positive words I was very excited. Of course Charlie Parker's music itself here is beyond reproach, no problem there; he is amazing! However, I found the sound quality to be very disappointing. I don't mean it's bad because it's old, that's expected. However, the sound here is muffled and has no presence or life. There is also no surface noise which makes it clear that some sort of noise reduction and/or other extreme manipulations have been done to the sound. It really is dull and even grating to listen to.

I dug out my 'Yardbird Suite: Ultimate Charlie Parker' two disc set from Rhino and compared some of the songs (such as Parker's Mood) that were the same versions and, (while the latter set could be better as well as it's a bit distorted) there is a presence and, yes, certain amount of noise and 'breath' in the high end frequencies that really made a huge difference, especially in the saxophone tone itself.

Upon researching this I found some posts on audio forums that indicated that this label (Proper) takes advantage of European copyright laws and these aren't really legitimate releases in the US. Apparently they don't get the audio from the source at all and just rip off the mastering of others, process it further, removing noise as well as the high end frequencies, and sell it cheap. A side effect of destroying the audio is probably that it also conveniently is now a 'different' mastering rather than the same as the one they ripped it off from.

If you just want to get exposed to some AMAZING music for cheap then I suppose you could do a lot worse, but I am going to sell or give this set as a gift and find something better for myself.

Proper Records has drawn together an impressive array of tracks from most of Parker's studio recordings from 1944 to 1951, when Bird was working for the Savoy, Dial and Verve labels. This set contains a 48 page illustrated booklet with information on the present recordings, as well as generous biographical material. Each disc comes packaged in an individual cardboard sleeve, nestled in the box with the booklet. The sound quality is sufficient while the material is extensive, making this a great boxed set at a great price.

DISC ONE

TRACKS 1 to 4: "The Grimes Quintette" recorded on September 15, 1944 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto saxophone), Clyde Hart (piano), Tiny Grimes (guitar, vocals), Jimmy Butts (bass, vocals), and Harold "Doc" West (drums).
TRACKS 5 to 9: "Charlie Parker's Reboppers" recorded on November 26, 1945 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet, piano), Argonne Thornton (piano), Curley Russell (bass) and Max Roach (drums).
TRACKS 10 to 13: "Charlie Parker Septet" recorded on March 28, 1946 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Lucky Thompson (tenor sax), Dodo Marmarosa (piano), Arvin Garrison (guitar), Vic McMillan (bass) and Roy Porter (drums).
TRACKS 14 to 17: "Charlie Parker Quartet" recorded on July 29, 1946 date with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Howard McGhee (trumpet), Jimmy Bunn (piano), Bob Kesterton (bass) and Roy Porter (drums).
TRACKS 18 to 22: "Charlie Parker Quartet" recorded on February 19, 1947 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Erroll Garner (piano), Red Callender (bass), Harold "Doc" West (drums), Earl Coleman (vocals).
TRACKS 23 to 26: "Charlie Parker's New Stars" recorded on February 26, 1947 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Howard McGhee (trumpet), Wardell Gray (tenor sax), Dodo Marmarosa (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Red Callender (bass) and Don Lamond (drums).

DISC TWO

TRACKS 1 to 4: "Charlie Parker's All Stars" recorded on May 8, 1947 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Bud Powell (piano), Tommy Potter (bass) and Max Roach (drums).
TRACKS 5 to 10: "Charlie Parker Quintet" recorded on October 28, 1947 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass) and Max Roach (drums).
TRACKS 11 to 16: "Charlie Parker Quintet" recorded on November 4, 1947 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass) and Max Roach (drums).
TRACKS 17 to 22: "Charlie Parker Sextet" recorded on December 17, 1947 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Jay Jay Johnson (trombone), Miles Davis (trumpet), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass) and Max Roach (drums).
TRACKS 23 to 26: "Charlie Parker's All Stars" recorded on December 21, 1947 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass) and Max Roach (drums).

DISC THREE

TRACKS 1 to 3: "Charlie Parker's All Stars" recorded on September 18, 1948 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), John Lewis (piano), Curley Russell (bass) and Max Roach (drums). TRACK 4: Miles Davis sits out for this one, same session.
TRACKS 5 to 8: "Charlie Parker's All Stars" recorded on September 24, 1948 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), John Lewis (piano), Curley Russell (bass) and Max Roach (drums).
TRACK 9: "Charlie Parker Quartet" recorded on December 1 and 2, 1948 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Hank Jones (piano), Ray Brown (bass) and Shelly Manne (drums).
TRACK 10: "Charlie Parker with Neal Hefti Orchestra" recorded on December 1 and 2, 1948 with the following musicians: Charlie Parker - Murray Williams - Sonny Salad (alto sax), Al Porcino - Doug Mettome - Ray Wetzel (trumpets), Bill Harris (trombone), Bart Varsalona (bass trombone), Vinnie Jacobs (French horn), John La Porta (clarinet), Pete Mondello - Flip Phillips (tenor sax), Manny Albam (baritone sax), Gene Orloff (concert master), Sam Caplan - Manny Fidler - Sid Harris - Harry Katzman - Zelly Smirnoff (violin), Nat Nathanson - Fred Ruzilla (viola), Joe Benaventi (cello), Tony Aless (piano), Curley Russell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums), Diego Iborra (percussion) and Neal Hefti (arranger and conductor).
TRACKS 11 to 14: "Charlie Parker with Machito and His Orchestra" recorded on December 20, 1948 with the following personnel: "Charlie Parker (alto sax), Mario Bauza - Paquito Cavilla - Bob Woodlen (trumpets), Gene Johnson - Freddie Skerritt (alto sax), Jose Madera - Flip Phillips (tenor sax), Leslie Johnakins (baritone sax), Rene Hernandez (piano), Roberto Rodriguez (bass), Jose Manguel (bongos), Luis Miranda (conga), Umbaldo Nieto (timbales), and Machito (maracas).
TRACKS 15 and 19: "Charlie Parker and His Orchestra" recorded in March of 1949 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Renny Dorham (trumpet), Tommy Turk (trombone), Al Haig (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Max Roach (drums) and Carlos Vidal (conga).
TRACKS 20 to 25: "Charlie Parker with Strings" recorded November 30, 1949 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Mitch Miller (oboe, maybe English horn), Bronislaw Gimpel - Max Hollander - Milt Lomask (violin), Frank Brieff (viola), Frank Miller (cello), Myor Rosen (harp), Stan Freeman (piano), Ray Brown (bass), Buddy Rich (drums) and Jimmy Carroll (arranger and conductor).
TRACK 26: "Charlie Parker Quartet" recorded in March or April of 1950 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Hank Jones (piano), Ray Brown (bass) and Buddy Rich (drums).

DISC FOUR

TRACKS 1 and 2 are the same as the ending personnel on DISC THREE.
TRACKS 2 to 10: "Charlie Parker with Strings" recorded in the summer of 1950 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Joseph Singer ( French horn), Eddie Brown (oboe), Sam Caplan (violin, concert master), Howard Kay - Harry Melnikoff - Sam Rand - Zelly Smirnoff (violin), Isadore Zir (viola), Maurice Brown (cello), Verley Mills (harp), Bernie Leighton (piano), Ray Brown (bass), Buddy Rich (drums) and Joe Lipman (arranger and conductor).
TRACKS 11 to 14: "Charlie Parker and His Orchestra" recorded on January 17, 1951 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Walter Bishop (piano), Teddy Kotick (bass) and Max Roach (drums).
TRACKS 15 to 19: "Charlie Parker's Jazzers" recorded on March 12, 1951 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Walter Bishop (piano), Teddy Kotick (bass), Roy Haynes (drums), Luis Miranda (conga) and Jose Manguel (bongo).
TRACKS 20 to 24: "Charlie Parker Quintet" recorded on August 8, 1951 with the following personnel: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Red Rodney (trumpet), John Lewis (piano), Ray Brown (bass) and Kenny Clarke (drums).

This is the probably the best value available right now for those seeking a single, affordable overview of Bird's entire career. This includes the highlights of his Savoy, Dial and Verve studio recordings, and the sound and presentation is first-rate.

There are a lot of great packages of Bird's work on the market right now, and so you can choose a lot of different ways to put together a Bird collection. But if you want a single, broad overview at a very reasonable price, this is highly recommended.

One of the nice things about these Proper sets is that they can get you into music you might otherwise pass up. I had always been left a little cold by Bird. I kept reading "genius", and none of the recordings I heard spoke to me in that way. I think the problem for me was, Bird was so influential that virtually everyone who followed tried to play like him. This had the retroactive effect of making Bird sound like everyone else. But with these four CD's, you eventually stop listening for the genius, and start listening to Bird. Then, the real Charlie Parker emerges. This is an essential collection, and as with most of the Proper boxes, the sound is very good and the price is right.

As the above reviewers have pointed out, this is a great addition to your collection: low price, good quality reproduction, good selection. On playing them chronologically, one sees the growing sophistication of Bird's phrasing and the increasing repetition. The earliest cut comes from 1944 and as with most of the tunes, it's a 12 bar blues. Here, Bird is aggressive, fresh and incredibly swinging. It is interesting to contrast the '44 bird with that of the Jay McShan days where his phrasing was simpler but no less swinging. Then come the Miles Davis quintet sides: still fresh, inventive and swinging. However, one can start to notice the reacurence of pet phrases. To me, the Davis solos are just as interesting and less repetitive. The repetition is most evident on those tunes that are based on the 12 bar blues. Bird's solos almost become a "draw it by the numbers" construct, especially as the end of the decade nears. For each four bar portion of the blues there are a collection of stock phrases to choose from and the listener can almost anticipate them. It must have been horrible to be so talented, so brilliant, so accomplished technically, so complete stylistically and to basically run out of interesting things to do (other than drugs).