Jazz Round Midnight

Charlie Parker, Jazz 'Round Midnight (Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 19, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000047BL
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,358 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Star Eyes

2. If I Should Lose You

3. I Can't Get Started

4. I'm In The Mood For Love

5. Autumn In New York

6. I Didn't Know What Time It Was

7. Ballade

8. Stella By Starlight

9. Summertime

10. (You Came Along From) Out Of Nowhere

11. My Melancholy Baby

12. Laura

13. Dancing In The Dark

14. Loverman

15. I'll Remember April

16. Embraceable You

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very nice, if not exciting stuff by Bird, August 1, 2003

By 

Richard LeFebvere (Chicago, Il, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jazz Round Midnight (Audio CD)

This is an interesting, slightly uneven compilation. Much of it is drawn from Charlie Parker's dates with string sections that sold so well in the early 1950's. Some of these arrangements may sounda bit corny, Mitch Miller style stuff, but some of them are very beautiful, among these "I'll Remember April" and "Dancing in the Dark." There's also an excellent big-band backing for "I can't Get Started" with features Oscar Peterson at piano. It's a great pleasure to hear Bird's sax blending in and out with the strings on many numbers, as if this was just another small group session. Speaking of which, those selections are the true highlight of this album, especially "Ballade," a 1950 date with Coleman hawkins, hank Jones, Ray Brown and Buddy Rich, which is rich, emotive, surprising, and perfect midnight jazz. Also in this vein is another 1950 date, also with Rich, but this time featuring Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk (!) and Curly Russell on bass. And the purchase price is worth it just to hear "Embraceable You" with Rich, Brown, Jones, the amazing Roy Eldridge, and two of the great tenor sax men, Flip Phillips and Lester Young. This is a great introduction to Bird's sensitive standard side, much like My Favorite Things or the Johnny Hartman album for John Coltrane. In short, it's worth it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Survey of a Master, December 14, 2006

By 

Fly By Light (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Jazz Round Midnight (Audio CD)

If this survey is really representative, then Bird never really played anything bad. However, I've heard better stuff from him, like his upbeat rendition of Night and Day. Most of the cuts on this CD are Charlie Parker with orchestra. I have two problems with that: 1) whenever the strings come in, I always imagine that I hear Timmy calling for Lassie in the background; 2) Bird's improvisational playing is so far "beyond" straight orchestral playing that the two don't seem to blend seamlessly. The few small ensemble cuts are the highlights of this piece, but Bird himself is great throughout. I just wouldn't call it, "Best of" because I've heard better from him.