Charlie Parker Bird In Time: 1940-1947 CD

After Louis Armstrong, probably the best-known and most influential jazz icon is Charlie Parker. In the mid-1940s, Parker was one of the prime movers of the then-controversial style known as bebop--his approach took in influences from the blues and the era's modern classical music, and set the music world on its ear. A four-disc set, BIRD IN TIME is arguably one of the most complete documents of Parker's early career, from playing in big bands (Cootie Williams, Earl Hines) to the groundbreaking small-group recordings with Dizzy Gillespie and Milt Jackson. TIME collects material from a variety of sources--radio broadcasts, studio sessions, and recordings made by amateur collectors--plus, there are assorted short interview segments scattered throughout. This set also includes two booklets of tremendously detailed liner notes, providing a peek at Parker the human being as well as at the social milieu of the 1940s.

Personnel: Charlie Parker (saxophone); Benny Goodman (clarinet); Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet); Erroll Garner, Jay McShann (piano); Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Rubberlegs Williams, Cootie Williams, Earl Coleman, Hazel Scott, Howard McGhee, Roy Porter, Teddy Edwards, Billy Eckstine, Barry Ulanov.

Audio Remasterer: Douglas McGregor.

Signal To Noise (magazine) (pp.62-63) - "The sessions reveal how deeply Parker's later music was grounded in Kansas City swing, and they feature solos in which one hears the seeds from which his mature style grew. It's also great music."