Miles Ahead: Charlie Parker Database

I owe a lot to a lot of people -- first among them is John Burton, whose 75th anniversary discography appeared on the internet back in 1995 and was the inspiration for this more dynamic version. I've received many very helpful comments from Carlos de Rosselló -- thanks to his careful eyes and ears I've been able to correct many errors. Jay Becker has made many helpful corrections and suggestions as well. Others who have made valuable contributions include James Accardi, Daniele Campana, Dean Chambers, Jen-Kuang Chang, Luis Contijoch, Jon Foley, Marcel Gärtner, Larry Hancock, Hans Jensen, Larry Koch, Piet Koster, Konrad Lozinski, Joe Medjuck, Craig Nielson, Norman Saks, and Phil Wilson.

There are some published Charlie Parker discographies you should consult:

1. Piet Koster, Bird Lore: Charlie Parker 1940-1955 (Second Edition). Almere: Micrography/Names & Numbers, 2002. (Names & Numbers also publishes a quarterly newsletter with updates to this discography.)

2. Leo Petersen, Charlie Parker: A Discography. Copenhagen, 2000. Limited edition, 6 copies; 380 A4 pages.

3. Claude Schlouch, Charlie Parker: A Discography. Paris, 1999. Limited edition, 200 copies; 145 A4 pages & 28 pp. index.

4. Robert Bregman, Leonard Bukowski, and Norman Saks, The Charlie Parker Discography. Redwood, NY: Cadence Books, 1993.

Ken Vail's Bird's Diary: The Life of Charlie Parker, 1945-1955 (London: Sanctuary Books, 1996) is a useful tool, too, though he's not very forthcoming about his sources and some of the information is wrong. But of the many books on Parker and his music, for me the most helpful has been Larry Koch's Yardbird Suite: A Compendium of the Music and Life of Charlie Parker (Northeastern University Press, 1999). Also look at Carl Woidek (ed.), The Charlie Parker Companion: Six Decades of Commentary (Schirmer Books, 1998) for interviews, contemporary reportage and reviews, etc. (A brief and selective Charlie Parker bibliography is located elsewhere on this website, and also a brief list of Charlie Parker websites.)

A caveat: the discography contains listings for CDs only, and in the "issues" section of the Sessions listings I have concentrated on the more-or-less readily available sources, so these are far from discographically complete. Many of Parker's studio recordings (for Dial, Savoy, and Emarcy-Clef-Mercury) were originally issued on 78s and/or 45s, then LPs; and much of his "live and unissued" work was originally issued on privately-pressed LPs aimed at collectors. Since pre-LP versions are not readily available, and the LPs themselves are out of print, I have focused on the CD reissues of this material. Even here you have several choices to make:

1. The Dial and Savoy studio sessions have been reissued together on eight CDs (Savoy SVJ 17079) with (in some cases erroneous) pitch-correction. You can also get these all together, with pitch-correction, on Definitive DRCD 44402 (also eight CDs).

2. The Dial sessions are available on four CDs from Stash and also from Definitive Records (DRCD 11152) -- the latter set is sonically better but doesn't include the "Home Cookin'" material from February 1947. Definitive has also released the Dial master takes on two CDs (DRCD 11149). The Dial sessions have also been collected on four CDs from Toshiba (The Complete Dial Sessions, TOCJ-66231/4), released in October 2003.

3. The Savoy studio sessions (including the 1945 Guild recordings with Dizzy Gillespie) are available on four CDs from Nippon Columbia (COCB-50400/3, reissued as COCB-53033/6, COCB-53436/9, and COCB-53883/6).

4. The Savoy sessions are available on four CDs from Definitive Records (DRCD 11148) -- the master takes are on two CDs (DRCD 11140).

5. The Royal Roost material from 1948-49 has been reissued on four CDs from Nippon Columbia (COCB-50405/8, reissued as COCB-53037/40, COCB-53440/3, and COCB-53887/90).

6. The Roost material (minus most of Symphony Sid Torin's banter) is available from Definitive Records (DRCD 11153), and on Savoy Jazz (Savoy SVY-17021/4).

Definitive Records in Andorra have issued a large number of Charlie Parker sets in addition to the Dial and Savoy boxes mentioned above. Check out their website: http://www.disconforme.ad

Most of the known Emarcy-Clef-Mercury-Verve recordings have been collected on ten CDs (Verve 837141).

The best single source of live material is the 22-LP set issued in Italy, Charlie Parker Live and Private Recordings in Chronological Order, commonly referred to as the Bird Box. This music was reissued in six 3-CD sets by New Sound Planet (JUTB 3001/18). Both the LPs and the CDs are long out of print. There is a Japanese version of the set as well (Sound Hills SSCD 8017/34), also out of print.

The Italian Philology label has issued many volumes of Bird's Eyes Last Unissued. There are 23 pressed CDs (Volumes 1-25; some of the early volumes appeared first as LPs, and a few of the CDs combine the contents of two LPs). There are also many CD-Rs (Volumes 26 and above). The pressed CDs are worthwhile. The CD-Rs are very haphazardly produced, usually duplicating material available elsewhere, often with erroneous discographical information and execrable sound quality; however, there are a few items on these discs that are not available anywhere else.

I'm sure that there are errors and omissions in these pages, so if you have corrections or additions, send me e-mail at plosin@gmail.com.