''Bird Is Free'' is an album by

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

that documents a concert given at Rockland Palace, New York City, on 26 September 1952. In 1997, Jazz Classics released a more complete documentation of the concert with improved recording quality, '' Live at Rockland Palace''.

Reception

The ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' reviewer,

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

, identified limitations of the audio quality, and added: "When Parker begins to play, however, you will forget all about distractions. ... There is brilliant, boiling, poetic Bird in a variety of attitudes here." The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review concluded: "Throughout, Parker plays with inimitable style and good humor and his quartet, featuring the great drummer Max Roach, swings effortlessly".

Track listing

;Side 1 # Rocker (

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing t ...

) #

Sly Mongoose ''Sly Mongoose'' is the third science fiction novel of Caribbean writer Tobias S. Buckell. The novel is a standalone but is set in the same universe as Buckell's novels '' Crystal Rain'' and ''Ragamuffin Ragamuffin or Raggamuffin is a euphemi ...

(Jamaican trad.) #

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 her ...

(Parker) #

Star Eyes ''Star Eyes'' is a 1963 studio album by Sarah Vaughan, arranged by Marty Manning. Reception The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow thought that "although nothing all that memorable occurs, Sassy's voice is heard very much in its prime". Track list ...

(

Gene de Paul Gene Vincent de Paul (June 17, 1919 – February 27, 1988) was an American pianist, composer and songwriter. Biography Born in New York City, he served in the United States Army during World War II. He was married to Billye Louise Files (Novem ...

Don Raye Don Raye (born Donald MacRae Wilhoite Jr., March 16, 1909 – January 29, 1985) was an American songwriter, best known for his songs for The Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", " The House of Blue Lights", "Just for a Thr ...

) ;Side 2 #

This Time the Dream's on Me "This Time the Dream's on Me" is a song composed by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was written for the 1941 film ''Blues in the Night'' when it was sung by Priscilla Lane. 1941 recordings Hit versions in 1941 were by Glenn Miller ...

(

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

) # Cool Blues (Parker) # My Little Suede Shoes (Parker) #

Lester Leaps In "Lester Leaps In" is a jazz standard originally recorded by Count Basie's Kansas City Seven in 1939. The composition, credited to the group's tenor saxophone player Lester Young, is a contrafact based on the chord progression of "I Got Rhythm", and ...

(

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

) # Laura (Raksin, Mercer)

Personnel

*Charlie Parker – alto sax *

Mundell Lowe James Mundell Lowe (April 21, 1922 – December 2, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist who worked often in radio, television, and film, and as a session musician. He produced film and TV scores in the 1970s, such as the '' Billy Jack'' soundtra ...

– guitar * Walter Bishop, Jr. – piano *

Teddy Kotick Theodore John Kotick (June 4, 1928 – April 17, 1986) was an American jazz double bassist. Kotick never recorded as a leader, but he appeared as a sideman with many leading jazz musicians, including Charlie Parker, Buddy Rich, Artie Shaw, Horace ...

– bass *

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

– drums *unidentified strings on "Rocker" and "Laura"

References

External links

''Bird Is Free'' at jazzdisco.org
{{Charlie Parker Charlie Parker albums 1961 live albums

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References

External links