Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy Masters

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Slam Stewart (b)
Tommy Potter (b)
Tiny Grimes (g, v)
Bam Brown (b)
Rubberlegs Williams (v)
Max Roach (d)
Bud Powell (p)
Trummy Young (tb, v)
Nelson Boyd (b)
Clyde Bernhardt (tb, v)
Al Hall (b)
Sarah Vaughan (v)
Sid Catlett (d)
Miles Davis (t)
Charlie Parker (as)
Zutty Singleton (d)
Argonne Thornton (p)
Jimmy Butts (b)
Jack McVea (ts)
John Lewis (p)
Clyde Hart (p)
Al Haig (p)
Curly Russell (b)
Cozy Cole (d)
Slim Gaillard (g, v)
Don Byas (ts)
Duke Jordan (p)
Doc West (d)
Jay McShann (p)
Specs Powell (d)
Remo Palmieri (g)
Mike Bryan (g)
Dizzy Gillespie (t)

Label:

Bird's Nest

July/2020

Media Format:

2CD

Catalogue Number:

244103

RecordDate:

15 September 1944-24 September 1948

The other side of the Parker diptych begun above, this Savoy collection begins a few months earlier with the altoist backing guitarist-singer Tiny Grimes, while it ends nine months later on the last great studio sessions by Bird's quintet with Miles and Max (‘Parker's Mood’, ‘Barbados’ etc).

The 20 tracks by this group are more varied than on Dial, since they include four with Bud Powell on piano (‘Donna Lee’ etc) four with Bird on tenor (‘Half Nelson’ etc). They include a couple of themeless up-tempo improvs in ‘Klaunstance’ and ‘Bird Gets The Worm’, which like everything else at this period are quite stunning. The only ballad recording here is ‘Meandering’, which is an incomplete warm-up from the immortal ‘Ko-Ko’ date, Parker's first session under his own name with a young Miles and Dizzy mostly on piano.

As with the authoritative Dial reissue above, this compilation also includes more of Parker's early sideman work for other labels, including some that were reissued by Savoy (the hilarious Slim Gaillard date and the Gillespie classics like ‘Salt Peanuts’ and ‘Hot House’) others such as the Clyde Hart/Rubberlegs Williams session and the originally unissued Clyde Bernhart items. If you're new to this period, certainly ‘Now's The Time’ to explore it and, if you're wanting to choose between the Dials and the Savoys, I'm afraid you need to have both.

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