Washington Concerts [Live, Original recording remastered]

Charlie Parker | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 3, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live, Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B00005AQCH
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,328 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #29 in Music > Indie Music > Jazz > Bebop

Editorial Reviews

Bird's 1953 appearance at Club Cavakos in Washington D.C.-first issued on LP in 1982 and never before on CD-plus a half-dozen unissued performances including a March 1953 midnight date with Max Roach! Kai Winding, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims and Charlie Byrd are also appear on various tracks, among them These Foolish Things; Ornithology; Thou Swell; Fine and Dandy , and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important reissues of the year, November 25, 2001

By 

JEAN-MARIE JUIF (BESANCON France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Washington Concerts (Audio CD)

Bird with The Orchestra. The first eight tunes of the CD were originally issued on LP in 1982 on the short-lived Elektra Musician label.Washington DC,February 22,1953,Club Kavakos: Bird meets The Orchestra, a band including Jack Nimitz,the Swope brothers and Jack Holliday.Bird,who missed an engagement in this town shortly before this date, also missed the rehearsals for this concert, and I'm sure the fifteen members of the band were afraid of the night to come. The result is amazing: maybe Charlie Parker's best live performance.Bill Potts,who wrote the arrangements for the show,and who was frightened too, remembers Bird appearing on the scene,carrying a plastic alto saxophone.And it was pure magic.Bird played at his highest level,all through the tunes,including some he maybe never played before.These eight tracks (1 to 8) have always been some of my favorite ones by Bird,since they were issued some twenty years ago.
But to complete this CD, we now can listen to 35 more minutes of unissued music by Bird.Tracks 9 to 14 come from other concerts in Washington: tracks 9 to 12 were recorded at the Howard Theater on March 8,1953, with a trio composed of Jack Holliday,Franklin Skeete and Max Roach,while tracks 13 and 14 were taped at the same place,October 18,1952,with among others,Don Lamond,Zoot Sims,Charlie Byrd,Kay Winding and Earl Swope.Bird's playing is absolutely crazy on the March 1953 date.This CD shows Bird in top form,playing like mad.The remastering of the music is great.This reissue is due to Blue Note Records,and I hope the remaining items of the Elektra Musician label will be reissued too, mostly the great Dizzy Gillespie concert with The Orchestra,recorded the day after Parker's death, or the outstanding Lennie Tristano's "New York improvisations",taped at Tristano's home.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST BIRD I'VE EVER HEARD..., April 19, 2001

By 

Giovanni C. Washington-Wright (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Washington Concerts (Audio CD)

This recording destroyed me. Imagine this... Bird just shows up with his horn at a concert one night in Washington -- and the rest is pure magic! This side, in my opinion, is the best Bird I've ever heard. Bird was clean, sober, and in RARE form. This recording has floated around for almost 20 years on tape, and I'm glad they finally remastered and reissued this thing of beauty... and I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! A trillion stars!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Fantastic Album!!, April 24, 2001

By 

Natalie J. Newell (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Washington Concerts (Audio CD)

Charlie Parker is phenomenal on these live concerts recorded in Washington, DC in 1952 and 1953 by Bill Potts, himself an icon of the Washington jazz scene, nay the national jazz scene. Potts' liner notes alone are worth the price of this album - colorful, entertaining and extremely enlightening. The icing on the cake is the recorded interview with Red Rodney, who played with Parker's quintet for three years. This album is historic! It blew me away! Thanks go to Bill Potts for having the forethought in his youth to record and preserve these incredible performances, and the good grace to share them with the rest of us.