Charlie Parker's
digital discography is peppered with collections using the words "April
in Paris" as part of the title. Released in 2000, Blue Night's budget
edition contains only about 45 minutes of music extracted from Bird's
Verve catalog, the body of works that map much of his progress during
the last few years of his short life. The 12 recordings that make up
this little taste were made under the supervision of Norman Granz between November 30, 1949 and March 31, 1954 and feature such brilliant improvisers as Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Red Rodney, Max Roach, and Roy Haynes. Charles Parker is also backed by orchestras operating under the leadership of Joe Lippman, Jimmy Carroll, and Gil Evans. While literally dozens of better Charlie Parker
samplers are available, if you have bumped into a copy of Blue Night's
April in Paris you should probably snap it up so as to have ready access
to a pediatric dose of Bird on Verve. (by arwulf arwulf)
The genius of Bird and strings is hard to describe – an edgey aproach
that really goes far past most other "jazz with strings" projects, not a
ballad-driven one, but a tensely strained one that brings out some of
Parker's best soloing, almost in a moody soundtrack-type way. The
tracks are a lot freer and less bop-driven than some of Bird's normal
work, and it's incredible to hear him soloing with such complexity –
even more proof of the genius he clearly exhibited in relation to his
contemporaries. (by dusty groove)
Personnel: Frank Brieff (viola) Eddie Brown (oboe) Maurice Brown (cello) Ray Brown (bass) Sam Caplan (violin) Stan Freeman (piano) Bronislaw Gimpel (violin) Max Hollander (violin) Howard Kay violin) Harry Melnikoff (violin) Charlie Parker (saxophone) Bernie Leighton (piano) Milton Lomask (violin) Frank Miller (cello) Mitch Miller (oboe) Verley Mills (harp) Sam Rand (violin) Myor Rosen (harp) Buddy Rich (drums) Joseph Singer (french horn) Zelly Smirnoff (violin) Isadore Zir (viola) Arranged & conducted by Jimmy Carroll &Joe Lipman
Tracklist: 01. April In Paris (Duke/Harburg) 3.09 02. Summertime (Gershwin) 2.49 03. If I Should Lose You (Rainger/Robin) 2.49 04. I Didn´t Know What Time It Was (Hart/Rodgers) 3.15 05. Everything Happens To Me (Adair/Carmichael/Dennis/Mercer) 3.10 06. Just Friends (Klenner/Lewis) 3.32 07. They Can´t Take That Away From Me (Gershwin) 3.21 08. Out Of Nowhere (Green/Heyman) 3.08 09. East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon) (Bowman) 3.42 10. Easy To Love (Porter) 3.31 11. I´m In The Mood For Love (Fields/McHugh) 3.35 12. I´ll Remember April (DePaul/Johnston/Raye) 3.06 + 13. Dancing In The Dark (Dietz/Schwartz) 3.13 14. Laura (Mercer/Raksin) 2.59 15. Autumn In New York (Duke) 3.31 16. Stella By Starlight (Washington/Young) 2.57
