''Bird Songs'' is the 22nd album by

Joe Lovano Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)"Joe Lovano." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 5, 2017. is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarin ...

released via the

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

label in 2011. The album features

Esperanza Spalding Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984) is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, and a Soul Train Music Award. A native of Portland, Oregon, Spalding ...

, James Weidman, Otis Brown III and

Francisco Mela Francisco Jose Mela is a Cuban drummer and percussionist who has performed with a wide array of prominent international Latin and jazz artists including Kenny Barron, Gary Bartz, JoAnne Brackeen, Jane Bunnett, Regina Carter, Anat Cohen, Paquit ...

performing songs mostly written or performed by alto saxophonist

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

Reception

Chris Barton of ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' stated "Though a showcase for history, Lovano and his band expertly show the many ways these classics can still throw sparks". John Fordham of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' noted "capricious than Django Bates's tribute to Charlie Parker last year, but just as inspired and rich in references, Joe Lovano's Bird Songs is not just a stunning celebration of Parker's music, but a salute to the sax giants – Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Ornette Coleman and Wayne Shorter – who were liberated by it". Phil Johnson of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' added "It's an homage to Charlie Parker, but not, says Lovano, a tribute record. Rather, Parker's music is approached from a post-Coltrane, post-free jazz aesthetic, with the rhythmic edginess of bebop elided into an all-the-time-in-the-world fluidity. A masterpiece".

Track listing

''All compositions by Charlie Parker except as indicated'' # "Passport" – 5:27 # "

Donna Lee "Donna Lee" is a bebop jazz standard attributed to Charlie Parker, although Miles Davis has also claimed authorship. Written in A-flat, it is based on the chord changes of the jazz standard "(Back Home Again in) Indiana". Beginning with an unusua ...

" – 4:30 # "

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

" – 6:19 # "

Moose the Mooche "Moose the Mooche" is a bebop composition written by Charlie Parker in 1946. It was written shortly after his friend and longtime musical companion Dizzy Gillespie left him in Los Angeles to return to New York City. Parker had been a long time hero ...

" – 6:34 # "

Loverman __NOTOC__ "Loverman" is the second single from the album '' Let Love In'' by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The song was also performed by American heavy metal band Metallica on their 1998 cover album ''Garage Inc.'' and De ...

" (Jimmy Davis, Roger "Ram" Ramirez, James Sherman) – 9:03 # "Birdyard" (Joe Lovano) – 1:47 # "

Ko Ko ''Ko Ko...Koli Kothi'' is a 2012 Kannada romantic film genre starring Srinagar Kitty and Priyamani in the lead roles. The film is directed by R. Chandru. Ramana Gogula is the music director of the film. Bhaskar and Adhi have jointly produced ...

" – 6:20 # "Blues Collage (Carvin' the Bird–Bird Feathers–

Bloomdido "Bloomdido" is a jazz standard written by Charlie Parker. It was originally recorded on 6 June 1950 and was released on the Clef Records album ''Bird and Diz''. French musician Didier Malherbe adopted the title of this piece as his nickname. See a ...

)" – 1:52 # "

Dexterity Fine motor skill (or dexterity) is the coordination of small muscles in movement with the eyes, hands and fingers. The complex levels of manual dexterity that humans exhibit can be related to the nervous system. Fine motor skills aid in the growt ...

" – 2:49 # "Dewey Square" – 8:25 # "

Yardbird Suite "Yardbird Suite" is a bebop standard composed by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker in 1946. The title combines Parker's nickname "Yardbird" (often shortened to "Bird") and a colloquial use of the classical music term "suite" (in a manner similar to ...

" – 11:58

Personnel

*Joe Lovano - saxophone *

- bass * James Weidman - piano *Otis Brown III - drums, percussion *

- drums, percussion

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2011 albums Joe Lovano albums Blue Note Records albums