Charlie Parker Omnibook for E Flat Instruments : Recorded Solos [Plastic Comb]

Charlie Parker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

60 solos such as Moose the Mooch, Ornithology and Anthropology, transcribed by Jamey Aebersold and Ken Slone. A cross section of the music of Charlie Parker. Spiral-bound, with chord symbols, metronome markings, record information, and practice suggestions.

Product Details

• Plastic Comb: 144 pages
• Publisher: Criterion (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0769260543
• ISBN-13: 978-0769260549
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Could use some improvements, October 28, 2003

By 

Neal D. Smith (Davenport, Iowa USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Charlie Parker Omnibook for E Flat Instruments : Recorded Solos (Plastic Comb)

There's no denying this book is considered a classic, but it could use a few revisions. It appears not to have changed at all since its original appearance in 1976, including an annoying amount of tacky and out-of-date advertisements. In one instance, a half-page ad on the second page of "K.C. Blues" replaces what should have been Parker's second solo on that tune! Many of the songs are transcribed without key signatures - adding key signatures would make transposing tunes and riffs significantly easier. There are some rhythm errors in a few of the tunes ("K.C. Blues" has one measure with only three counts, "Ballade" also has a few rhythm mistakes and is nearly impossible to read the way it's written, with its overabundance of 32nd and 64th note runs). I'm not questioning the talent of Parker - some of the other "Omnibook" reviews here are based on Parker's playing abilities rather than the way his compositions are represented in these transcriptions. The simple addition of key signatures would be a huge improvement. For less experienced students, it'd also be nice to see a synopsis of the tune beneath the title describing the song's form or the origin of the chord changes. Simple things like that could make this book even more indispensable than it has become.
Do we all have to buy this book? Despite its shortcomings, I'm afraid the answer is "yes". Surely, there's some ambitious grad student out there somewhere willing to enter the entire book into Finale or Sibelius so we can at least get key signatures and those few rhythm corrections. Please?

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very important material, July 23, 2002

By 

Huang Yu Jen "Ian Huang" (Taipei, Wenshan Taiwan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Charlie Parker Omnibook for E Flat Instruments : Recorded Solos (Plastic Comb)

This is a well done transcription of Charlie Parker's recording on Dial, Savoy, Verve. There are 60! songs including Parker's solo in this transcription,such as KoKo, Confirmation, Ornithology, Parker's Mood, She Rotre, Yardbird Suite, Scrapple from the apple, Billie's Bounce... Not like the one 'Charlie Parker a Jazz Master' Hal-Leonard made, without any information on the records(the real sounds), this has information on series numbers of the records where the song was transcribed from.

The transcription is done very well;notes are took very precisely, in hand-writing, with chords changes on bars.'Not regularly 4 bar each row' is the only thing that I can complain about.

This book is a very important material for people whom want to know what parker has made when he was improvising. With carefully analysis, one can get an insight view on what Parker was really doing. According to this, the book could be the most important marterail that ever written about Charlie Parker.

A must have. I'll give it 5 more * if I can. Hope there are more omnibooks from these giant were made.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have, January 14, 2008

By 

G. Goldman "Most people with swagger really j... (Durham, North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Charlie Parker Omnibook for E Flat Instruments : Recorded Solos (Plastic Comb)

The transcriptions are spot on and a huge time saver for anyone who wants to learn Bird's patterns and doesn't have the proper equipment or time to transcribe em' his/herself. I learn more and more through this book every day. It's absolutely worth transcribing pieces on your own sometimes but to get a collection of this magnitude, and accurate as it is, would be really time-consuming. This Eb version is a necessity for any serious jazz alto players - personally i think the some version of it should be in EVERY MUSICIAN'S library.