Charlie Parker Tribute revisited

No radio show this week, so I am republishing a podcast originally posted in August of 2008. This tribute was first aired on the anniversary of Bird's 88th birthday, but its great to hear these tunes any time of the year. This great alto player is often considered the founder of Be-Bop music. Before Bird in the 1940's, Jazz was primarily big-band music, dance music that was perhaps the most popular genre of it's time. Bird featured a hard driving quartet and quintet format with an emphasis on improvisation, freeing the soloist to stretch out. As I listen to the 2 Bird originals on this set, each under 3 minutes, it amazes me how much music is packed into these tracks. The rest of the set features modern day jazz artists that have covered Bird's compositions as well as artists that have been influenced by his music. Actually, every great jazz artist that has played this idiom since Bird, has taken some of his chops from Charlie Parker.


Playlist
Track * Artist * Album
Now's the Time * Charlie Parker * Original Recordings of CP
Donna Lee * Charlie Parker * Bird/The Savoy Recording
Yardbird Suite * Dwight West * Tribute to the Masters
Dewey Square * Barbara Dennerlein * Tribute to Charlie
Ornithology * Barbara Dennerlein * Tribute to Charlie
This I Dig Of You * Greg Abate Quintet * Bop Lives
Bop Lives * Greg Abate Quintet * Bop Lives
Arriving Soon * Cannonball Adderley * Plus
Confirmation * Jackie McLean * 4, 5, And 6
Scrapple From The Apple * Keith Jarrett * Up For It
Time's Lie * Joe Farrell * Moon Germs