Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique, and advanced harmonies. He was a virtuoso and introduced revolutionary rhythmic and harmonic ideas into jazz, including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. Parker primarily played the alto saxophone.
Parker was an icon for the hipster subculture and later the Beat Generation, personifying the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual rather than just an entertainer.
This 5 disc compilation was released in 2003 and features classic recordings of Charlie Parker with various other jazz artists that are, as the title suggests, among the most impostant ever made.
Disc A 1940-41
1-1 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– I Found A New Baby 3:04
1-2 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Body And Soul 2:54
1-3 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Honeysuckle Rose 3:01
1-4 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Oh, Lady Be Good 3:00
1-5 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Coquette 3:13
1-6 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Moten Swing 2:51
1-7 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Blues 3:12
1-8 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Swingmatism 2:40
1-9 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Hootie Blues 2:58
1-10 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Dexter Blues 2:58
1-11 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Lonely Boy Blues 2:59
1-12 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Get Me On Your Mind 3:05
1-13 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– The Jumpin' Blues 3:04
1-14 Jay McShann & His Orchestra*– Sepian Bounce 3:10
1-15 Kansas City Band – Cherokee 3:13
1-16 Kansas City Band – My Heart Tells Me 3:21
1-17 Kansas City Band – I've Found A New Baby 3:34
1-18 Kansas City Band – Body And Soul 3:45
1-19 Tiny Grimes Quintet– Tiny's Tempo 2:58
1-20 Tiny Grimes Quintet– I'll Always Love You Just The Same 3:04
1-21 Tiny Grimes Quintet– Romance Without Finance 3:05
1-22 Tiny Grimes Quintet– Red Cross 3:11
1-23 Tiny Grimes Quintet– What's The Matter Now? 2:49
1-24 Clyde Hart's All Stars*– I Want Every Bit Of It 3:17
1-25 Clyde Hart's All Stars*– That's The Blues 2:52
Disc B 1941-45
2-1 Clyde Hart's All Stars*– 4-F Blues 2:38
2-2 Clyde Hart's All Stars*– G.I. Blues 2:25
2-3 Clyde Hart's All Stars*– Dream Of You 2:54
2-4 Clyde Hart's All Stars*– Seventh Avenue 2:51
2-5 Clyde Hart's All Stars*– Sorta Kinda 2:42
2-6 Clyde Hart's All Stars*– Ooh Ooh, My My, Ooh Ooh 2:46
2-7 Dizzy Gillespie Sextet– Groovin' High 2:41
2-8 Dizzy Gillespie Sextet– All The Things You Are 2:53
2-9 Dizzy Gillespie Sextet– Dizzy Atmosphere 2:52
2-10 Dizzy Gillespie Quintet– Salt Peanuts 3:19
2-11 Dizzy Gillespie Quintet– Shaw 'Nuff 3:03
2-12 Dizzy Gillespie Quintet– Lover Man 3:26
2-13 Dizzy Gillespie Quintet– Hot House 3:13
2-14 Sarah Vaughan With The Dizzy Gillespie Septet*– What More Can A Woman Do 3:04
2-15 Sarah Vaughan With The Dizzy Gillespie Septet*– I'd Rather Have A Memory Than A Dream 2:45
2-16 Sarah Vaughan With The Dizzy Gillespie Septet*– Mean To Me 2:43
2-17 Red Norvo And His Selected Sextet– Hallelujah 3:58
2-18 Red Norvo And His Selected Sextet– Get Happy 3:43
2-19 Red Norvo And His Selected Sextet– Slam Slam Blues 4:28
2-20 Red Norvo And His Selected Sextet– Congo Blues 3:54
2-21 Sir Charles Thompson & His All Stars*– Takin' Off 3:11
2-22 Sir Charles Thompson & His All Stars*– If I Had You 3:04
2-23 Sir Charles Thompson & His All Stars*– 20th Century Blues 2:58
2-24 Sir Charles Thompson & His All Stars*– The Street Beat 2:36
Disc C: 1945-47
3-1 Charlie Parker Reboppers*– Warming Up A Riff 2:39
3-2 Charlie Parker Reboppers*– Billie's Bounce 3:11
3-3 Charlie Parker Reboppers*– Now's The Time 3:19
3-4 Charlie Parker Reboppers*– Thriving On A Riff 2:58
3-5 Charlie Parker Reboppers*– Meandering 3:20
3-6 Charlie Parker Reboppers*– Koko 2:58
3-7 Slim Gaillard & His Orchestra*– Dizzy's Boogie 3:16
3-8 Slim Gaillard & His Orchestra*– Flat Foot Floogie 2:35
3-9 Slim Gaillard & His Orchestra*– Poppity Pop 3:00
3-10 Slim Gaillard & His Orchestra*– Slim's Jam 3:18
3-11 Dizzy Gillespie Jazzmen– Diggin' Diz 2:54
3-12 Charlie Parker Septet*– Moose The Mooche 3:06
3-13 Charlie Parker Septet*– Yardbird Suite 2:57
3-14 Charlie Parker Septet*– Ornithology 3:02
3-15 Charlie Parker Septet*– The Famous Alto Break 0:51
3-16 Charlie Parker Septet*– A Night In Tunisia 3:07
3-17 Charlie Parker Quintet*– Max (Is) Making Wax 2:32
3-18 Charlie Parker Quintet*– Lover Man 3:21
3-19 Charlie Parker Quintet*– The Gypsy 3:03
3-20 Howard McGhee Quintet– Bebop 2:54
3-21 Howard McGhee Septet– Blues, Pt. 1 & 2 1:48
3-22 Howard McGhee Septet– Yardbird Suite 2:14
3-23 Howard McGhee Septet– Lullaby In Rhythm, Pt. 1 & 2 3:06
3-24 Howard McGhee Septet– Home Cooking, No. 1: Opus 2:24
3-25 Howard McGhee Septet– Home Cooking, No. 2: Cherokee 2:09
3-26 Howard McGhee Septet– Home Cooking, No. 3: I Got Rhythm 2:28
Disc D: 1947
4-1 Charlie Parker Quartet*– This Is Always 3:15
4-2 Charlie Parker Quartet*– Dark Shadows 3:09
4-3 Charlie Parker Quartet*– Bird's Nest 2:48
4-4 Charlie Parker Quartet*– Cool Blues 3:07
4-5 Charlie Parker's New Stars– Relaxin' At Camarillo 3:10
4-6 Charlie Parker's New Stars– Cheers 3:07
4-7 Charlie Parker's New Stars– Carvin' The Bird 2:51
4-8 Charlie Parker's New Stars– Stupendous 3:02
4-9 Charlie Parker's All Stars*– Donna Lee 2:35
4-10 Charlie Parker's All Stars*– Chasin' The Bird 2:46
4-11 Charlie Parker's All Stars*– Cheryl 3:00
4-12 Charlie Parker's All Stars*– Buzzy 2:32
4-13 Miles Davis All Stars– Milestones 2:39
4-14 Miles Davis All Stars– Little Willie Leaps 2:54
4-15 Miles Davis All Stars– Half Nelson 2:48
4-16 Miles Davis All Stars– Sippin' At Bells 2:25
4-17 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Dexterity 3:00
4-18 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Bongo Bop 2:47
4-19 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Dewey Square 3:08
4-20 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– The Hymn 2:30
4-21 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Bird Of Paradise 3:12
4-22 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Embraceable You 3:25
4-23 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Bird Feathers 2:53
4-24 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Klact-Oveeseds-Tene 3:08
4-25 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Scrapple From The Apple 2:58
4-26 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– My Old Flame 3:11
Disc E: 1947-48
5-1 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Out Of Nowhere 3:53
5-2 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Don't Blame Me 2:49
5-3 Original Charlie Parker Quintet* With J J Johnson*– Drifting On A Reed 3:03
5-4 Original Charlie Parker Quintet* With J J Johnson*– Quasimodo 3:01
5-5 Original Charlie Parker Quintet* With J J Johnson*– Charlie's Wig 2:48
5-6 Original Charlie Parker Quintet* With J J Johnson*– Bongo Beep 3:07
5-7 Original Charlie Parker Quintet* With J J Johnson*– Crazeology 3:05
5-8 Original Charlie Parker Quintet* With J J Johnson*– How Deep Is The Ocean? 3:34
5-9 Charlie Parker Quartet*– The Bird 4:49
5-10 Neal Hefti Orchestra*– Repetition 3:02
5-11 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Another Hair Do 2:43
5-12 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Bluebird 2:54
5-13 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Klaunstance 2:46
5-14 Original Charlie Parker Quintet*– Bird Gets The Worm 2:40
5-15 Charlie Parker All Stars*– Barbados 2:32
5-16 Charlie Parker All Stars*– Ah-Leu-Cha 2:57
5-17 Charlie Parker All Stars*– Constellation 2:32
5-18 Charlie Parker All Stars*– Parker's Mood 3:08
5-19 Charlie Parker All Stars*– Perhaps 2:37
5-20 Charlie Parker All Stars*– Marmaduke 2:47
5-21 Charlie Parker All Stars*– Steeplechase 3:09
5-22 Charlie Parker All Stars*– Merry-Go-Round 2:29
5-23 Machito & His Orchestra*– No Noise, Pts. 1 & 2 5:45
5-24 Machito & His Orchestra*– Mango Mangue 2:56
