The ''Charlie Parker Omnibook'' is a collection of transcriptions of compositions and improvised solos by jazz 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 ...

. It is available for E-flat, B-flat, C and bass-clef instruments. It includes 60 pieces, transcribed by Ken Slone with proofreading assistance from

Jamey Aebersold Wilton Jameson "Jamey" Aebersold (born July 21, 1939) is an American publisher, educator, and jazz saxophonist. His Play-A-Long series of instructional books and CDs, using the chord-scale system, the first of which was released in 1967, are an ...

, information about the records, and practice suggestions. The ''Charlie Parker Omnibook'' is published by

Hal Leonard LLC Hal Leonard LLC (formerly Hal Leonard Corporation) is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Curre ...

. Charlie Parker (1920–1955) was one of the pioneers of the

Bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

style of jazz. This idiom is characterized by fast tempos, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation over set harmonic structures. Parker’s style of playing and his harmonic treatment particularly in improvisation continues to be influential across multiple genres and instruments. In particular, he innovated rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. His realization that the 12 notes of the

chromatic scale The chromatic scale (or twelve-tone scale) is a set of twelve pitches (more completely, pitch classes) used in tonal music, with notes separated by the interval of a semitone. Chromatic instruments, such as the piano, are made to produce th ...

can lead melodically to any key led to him escaping from the confines of previously practiced improvisation methods. The ''Omnibook'' has become a major reference for students of jazz improvisation in many genres of jazz music not just bebop. Portions of Parker’s improvised solos continue to be quoted by other improvising jazz musicians today. The transcriptions are not intended to be studied by saxophonists new to the instrument but rather by advanced students with some prior jazz idiom knowledge and considerable instrumental skill. Very few articulation marks are notated.

Transcriptions included in the book

* Ah-Leu-Cha * Another Hairdo *

Anthropology (composition) "Anthropology" (also known as "Thriving from a Riff" or "Thriving on a Riff") is a bebop-style jazz composition that is credited to Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Parker stated in 1949 that Gillespie had played no part in its writing, and that ...

Au Privave "Au Privave" is a bebop jazz standard composed by Charlie Parker in 1951. Parker recorded "Au Privave" on January 17, 1951, for the American record label Verve. From French, the title translates to "in Privave" or "at the Privave." A variant of th ...

* Au Privave (No. 2) * Back Home Blues * Ballade (Parker C) *

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) ...

* Billie's Bounce (Bill's Bounce) * The Bird * Bird Gets the Worm (Parker) *

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 ...

* Blue Bird * Blues (Fast) *

Blues for Alice Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...

* Buzzy * Card Board * Celerity (Parker) * Chasing The Bird * Cheryl * Chi Chi * Confirmation * Constellation * Cosmic Rays * Dewey Square * Diverse (Parker) *

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 ...

* K.C. Blues * Kim * Kim (No. 2) * Klaunstance *

Ko-Ko "Ko-Ko" (also spelled "Ko Ko" or "Koko") is a 1945 bebop recording composed by Charlie Parker. The original recorded version lists Parker on alto saxophone with trumpeter Miles Davis, double bassist Curley Russell and drummer Max Roach. Due to ...

* Laird Baird * Leap Frog (Parker C) * Marmaduke * Merry Go Round (Parker C) * Mohawk * Mohawk (No. 2) *

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 ...

* My Little Suede Shoes * Now's The Time * Now's The Time (No. 2) *

Ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

* An Oscar For Treadwell * Parker's Mood * Passport * Perhaps * Red Cross * Relaxing With Lee (Parker) *

Scrapple from the Apple "Scrapple from the Apple" is a bebop composition by Charlie Parker written in 1947, commonly recognized today as a jazz standard, written in F major. The song borrows its chord progression from " Honeysuckle Rose", a common practice for Parker, as ...

* Segment * Shawnuff * She Rote * She Rote (No. 2) * Si Si * Steeplechase * Thriving From A Riff * Visa * Warming Up A Riff (Parker) *

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 ...

References

External links

Google Books
Charlie Parker Jazz books Jazz publications Musical improvisation {{Music-publication-stub