Charlie Parker Complete Live Performances On Savoy. CD

Full Title: The Complete Live Performances On Savoy.
THE COMPLETE LIVE PERFORMANCES ON SAVOY comes with a 60-page booklet complete with rare photographs, liner notes by Orrin Keepnews, an essay by Paul Bacon, and song-by-song annotation by Loren Schoenberg.
Personnel: Charlie Parker (alto saxophone); Dave Lambert, Buddy Stewart (vocals); Lucky Thompson, Claude McLin, Flip Phillips, Charlie Ventura (tenor saxophone); Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Dizzy Gillespie, Conte Candoli (trumpet); Bennie Green (trombone); Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Tadd Dameron, Al Haig, Chris Anderson, John Lewis (piano); George Freeman (guitar); Curley Russell, Tommy Potter, Leroy Jackson, Al McKibbon (bass); Max Roach, Joe Harris, Shelly Manne, Ed Shaughnessy, Bruz Freeman (drums).
Digitally remastered by Paul Reid III (Denon Digital Industries, Madison, Georgia).
Personnel: Charlie Parker (vocals, alto saxophone); Buddy Stewart (vocals, background vocals); Dave Lambert, Dave Lambert (vocals); George Freeman (guitar); Claude McLin, Flip Phillips, Lucky Thompson, Charlie Ventura (tenor saxophone); Conte Candoli, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Dorham, Miles Davis (trumpet); Bennie Green (trombone); Chris Anderson , John Lewis, Al Haig, Tadd Dameron (piano); Milt Jackson (vibraphone, background vocals); Bruz Freeman, Joe Harris , Max Roach, Shelly Manne, Ed Shaughnessy (drums).
Liner Note Authors: Loren Schoenberg; Orrin Keepnews; Paul Bacon.
Recording information: Carnegie Hall, New York, NY (1947-1950); Chicago Club, New York, NY (1947-1950); Chicago, IL (1947-1950); Royal Roost (1947-1950); Royal Roost New York, NY (1947-1950).
Editors: Paul Reid III; Orrin Keepnews.
Photographers: Frank Driggs; Alan Nahigian.
This four-CD set contains a somewhat streamlined presentation of Parker's complete known live broadcasts from New York's Royal Roost, dating during 1948 and 1949, augmented with five of the live September 29, 1947, Carnegie Hall recordings and one lower-quality tape made in Chicago during 1950. The vitality of these performances still radiates off the tapes in whatever format they're reproduced 50-plus years later -- the interaction between the bandmembers, which include Miles Davis (or Kenny Dorham) on trumpet and Max Roach at the drums, and Tadd Dameron or Al Haig at the ivories, is spellbinding. The difference between these performances and Parker's studio work of the period is that he was always "on" for the broadcasts, and had already achieved something of a peak that he still missed in his studio work of the era -- those along with him rose to the occasion, as witnessed by Kenny Dorham's playing on Miles Davis' "Half Nelson" in December of 1947. On the other hand, nobody could touch Parker when he was at his peak on stage, which he ascends easily on a jam set to Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." The Chicago material, which exists on a separate CD from Savoy (One Night in Chicago), isn't as well recorded -- the rhythm section is muted, and the balances are off, but Parker is certainly audible, and hearing his improvisations on material like Rodgers & Hart's "There's a Small Hotel" is worth the price of the disc, even on what amounts to a good audience tape. The source material has been very carefully mastered, striking a good balance between clean playback and fidelity to the original performance, and the dozens of pages of notes represent virtually a separate, free-standing book on Parker during this period in his career. ~ Bruce Eder
A dream come true for completists and Parker enthusiasts, this 4-disc set brings together all the performances from the artist's Savoy years, including full-length numbers from the legendary Royal Roost dates (broadcast on "Symphony Sid" Torin's program), and material from Chicago club and Carnegie Hall concerts. Parker's Quintet, whose line-up rotates but often features the spectacular and very young Miles Davis on trumpet and the drum wizardry of Max Roach, displays an always-dazzling ca