''Complete Charlie Parker on Dial'' is a 1996

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

release of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

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 ...

's 1946–47 recordings for Dial Records. The box set, released by Jazz Classics, features 89 songs, including alternate takes and notes composed by jazz historian and Parker biographer

Ira Gitler Ira Gitler (December 18, 1928 – February 23, 2019) was an American jazz historian and journalist. The co-author of ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' with Leonard Feather—the most recent edition appeared in 1999—he wrote hundreds of ...

. John Genarri, author of the book ''Blowin' Hot and Cool: Jazz and Its Critics'' singles out the recording of "Lover Man" on this album, noting that " is wrenching, anguished version...has been called Parker's most poetic statement on record" though, says Gennari, Parker himself viewed it as substandard and threatened physical violence against Ross Russell, a Dial records producer, for including it.Gennari, John
"Blowin' Hot and Cool: A Soundtrack"

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

. Retrieved 2008-09-04. Gennari also indicates that other tracks included on this CD—"Relaxin' at Camarillo", "Cheers", "Stupendous" and "Carvin' the Bird"—"have struck many listeners as his most joyous and optimistic."

Recording history

Recording during Parker's tenure with Dial Records between March 28, 1946, and December 17, 1947, these 89 songs have been released multiple times.Section source.

Spotlite Records Spotlite Records is a British jazz record company and label. It was founded in 1968 by British producer Tony Williams, originally as an outlet for Charlie Parker's Dial recordings. It has reissued other Dial masters, and undertaken new recordings ...

in Britain released them in a series of

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

volumes entitled '' Charlie Parker on Dial'' in the 1970s and re-released them on CD in a box set in 1993. They were released in a box set in 2004 by Stash Records. This 1996 box set groups takes and sessions together to allow listeners to closely compare the progression of the material as Parker and his fellow musicians developed it, with jazz improvisation morphing covered material as well as Parker's own compositions into different songs.

Track listing

''Except where otherwise noted, all songs composed by Charlie Parker.''

Disc 1

#"Diggin' Diz" (

George Handy George Handy (born George Joseph Hendleman) (January 17, 1920 – January 8, 1997) was an American jazz arranger, composer and pianist whose musical beginnings were fostered under the tutelage of composer Aaron Copland. While he had an impressiv ...

) – 2:53 #"

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 ...

" (Take 1) – 2:59 #"Moose the Mooche" (Take) – 3:04 #"Moose the Mooche" (Take 2) – 3:04 #"

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 ...

" (Take 1) – 2:41 #"Yardbird Suite" (Take 4,

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

) – 2:56 #"

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 ...

" (Take 1) (

Benny Harris "Little" Benny Harris (April 23, 1919 in New York City – May 11, 1975 in San Francisco) was an American bebop trumpeter and composer. A self-taught musician, in the mid-1930s Benny Harris was already playing with Thelonious Monk. In later y ...

, Parker) – 3:03 #"Ornithology" (a.k.a. "Bird Lore") (Take 3) (Harris, Parker) – 3:19 #"Ornithology" (Take 4, Master) (Harris, Parker) – 3:01 #"

A Night in Tunisia "A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by Dizzy Gillespie around 1940–42, while Gillespie was playing with the Benny Carter band. It has become a jazz standard. It is also known as "Interlude", and with lyrics by Raymond Leveen w ...

" (a.k.a. "the Famous Alto Break") (take 1) (

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

, Frank Paparelli) – :51 #"A Night in Tunisia" (Take 4) (Gillespie, Paparelli) – 3:08 #"A Night in Tunisia" (Take 5, Master) (Gillespie, Paparelli) – 3:04 #"Max (Is) Making Wax" (Take A, Master) (

Oscar Pettiford Oscar Pettiford (September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960) was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom. Biography Pettiford was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United ...

) – 2:33 #"

Lover Man "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" (often called simply "Lover Man") is a 1941 popular song written by Jimmy Davis, Roger ("Ram") Ramirez, and James Sherman. It is particularly associated with Billie Holiday, for whom it was written, and her ...

" (Take A, Master) (Jimmy David,

Roger "Ram" Ramirez Roger "Ram" Ramirez (September 15, 1913 – 11 January 1994) was a Puerto Rican jazz pianist and composer. He was a co-composer of the song "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" Early life Ramirez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on September 15, 1 ...

, Jimmy Sherman) – 3:22 #"The Gypsy" (Take) (Billy Reid) – 3:05 #"Rebop" (Take A, Master) (Gillespie) – 2:56 #"Blues, No. 1" (Short) – :48 #"Blues, No. 1" (Long) – 1:08 #"Yardbird Suite" – 2:15 #"Lullaby in Rhythm, Pt. 1" (

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

, Walter Hirsch,

Clarence Profit Clarence Profit (June 26, 1912 – October 22, 1944) was a jazz pianist and composer associated with swing. Profit was born in New York, United States. He came from a musical family and began studying piano at the age of three, and he led a te ...

Edgar Sampson Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

) – 1:33 #"Lullaby in Rhythm, Pt. 2" (Goodman, Hirsch, Profit, Sampson) – 1:36 #"Home Cooking, No. 1: Opus" (

Hal McKusick Hal McKusick (June 1, 1924 – April 11, 2012) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and flutist who worked with Boyd Raeburn from 1944 to 1945 and Claude Thornhill from 1948 to 1949. Career McKusick was born in Medford, Massachus ...

) – 2:24 #"Home Cooking, No. 2: Cherokee" (

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...

) – 2:09 #"Home Cooking, No. 3:

I Got Rhythm "I Got Rhythm" is a piece composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and published in 1930, which became a jazz standard. Its chord progression, known as the "rhythm changes", is the foundation for many other popular jazz tunes such ...

" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

) – 2:26

Disc 2

#"This is Always" (Take C, Master) (

Mack Gordon Mack Gordon (born Morris Gittler; June 21, 1904 – February 28, 1959) was an American composer and lyricist for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times in 11 years, including five consecutive years betwee ...

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

) – 3:15 #"This is Always" (Take D, Alternate) (Gordon, Warren) – 3:11 #"Dark Shadows" (Take A, Alternate) (

Shifty Henry John Willie "Shifty" Henry (4 October 1921 – 30 November 1958) was an American musician, most noted as a double bass and bass guitar player, and blues songwriter. He also played flute, violin, viola, saxophone, and oboe and was in demand as a se ...

) – 4:05 #"Dark Shadows" (Take B, Alternate) (Henry) – 3:12 #"Dark Shadows" (Take C, Master) (Henry) – 3:07 #"Dark Shadows" (Take D, Alternate) (Henry) – 3:01 #"Bird's Nest" (Take A, Master 1) – 2:53 #"Bird's Nest" (Take B, Alternate) – 2:52 #"Bird's Nest" (Take C, Master 2) – 2:44 #"Cool Blues" (a.k.a. "Hot Blues") – 1:59 #"Cool Blues" (a.k.a. "Blowtop Blues") – 2:25 #"Cool Blues" (Take C, Master) – 3:09 #"Cool Blues" (Take D, Alternate) – 2:53 #"Relaxin' at Camarillo" (Take A) – 3:08 #"Relaxin' at Camarillo" (Take C) – 3:07 #"Relaxin' at Camarillo" (Take D) – 3:03 #"Relaxin' at Camarillo" (Take E) – 2:59 #"Cheers" (Take A) (

Howard McGhee Howard McGhee (March 6, 1918 – July 17, 1987) was one of the first American bebop jazz trumpeters, with Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro and Idrees Sulieman. He was known for his fast fingering and high notes. He had an influence on younger beb ...

) – 3:11 #"Cheers" (Take B) (McGhee) – 3:06 #"Cheers" (Take C) (McGhee) – 3:03 #"Cheers" (Take D) (McGhee) – 3:06 #"Carvin' the Bird" (Take A, Alternate) (McGhee) – 2:46 #"Carvin' the Bird" (Take B, Master) (McGhee) – 2:46 #"Stupendous" (Take A, Master) (Melvin Broiles, McGhee) – 2:55 #"Stupendous" (a.k.a. "Surprising") (Take B, Alternate) (Broiles, McGhee) – 2:53

Disc 3

#"Dexterity" (Take A, Alternate) – 2:59 #"Dexterity" (Take B, Master) – 3:00 #"Bongo Bop" (a.k.a. "Blues") – 2:46 #"Bongo Bop" (a.k.a. "Blues" and "Parker's Blues") – 2:46 #"Dewey Square" (a.k.a. "Prezology/Bird Feathers") – 3:31 #"Dewey Square" (Take B, Alternate) – 3:04 #"Dewey Square" (Take C, Master) – 3:09 #"The Hymn" (Take A, Master) – 2:34 #"The Hymn" (Take B, Alternate) – 2:30 #"Bird of Paradise" (Take A) – 3:10 #"Bird of Paradise" (Take B) – 3:12 #"Bird of Paradise" (Take C) – 3:13 #"

Embraceable You "Embraceable You" is a jazz standard song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was written in 1928 for an unpublished operetta named ''East Is West''. It was published in 1930 and included in that year's Broadway m ...

" (Take A) (Gershwin, Gershwin) – 3:49 #"Embraceable You" (Take B) (Gershwin, Gershwin) – 3:25 #"Bird Feathers" (a.k.a. "Schnourphology") (Take C, Master) – 2:53 #"Klact-Oveeseds-Tene" (Take A, Master) – 3:08 #"Klact-Oveeseds-Tene" (Take B, Alternate) – 3:07 #"

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 ...

" (Take B, Alternate) – 2:41 #"Scrapple from the Apple" (a.k.a. "Little Be-Bop") (Take C, Master) – 2:57

Disc 4

#"My Old Flame" (Take A, Master) (

Sam Coslow Sam Coslow (December 27, 1902 – April 2, 1982) was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager. He contributed songs to Broadway revues, ...

, Arthur Johnston) – 3:15 #" Out of Nowhere" (Take A) (

Johnny Green John Waldo Green (October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his earli ...

Edward Heyman Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907October 16, 1981) was an American lyricist and producer, best known for his lyrics to " Body and Soul," "When I Fall in Love," and " For Sentimental Reasons." He also contributed to a number of songs for films. Biogr ...

) – 4:06 #"Out of Nowhere" (Take B) (Green, Heyman) – 3:52 #"Out of Nowhere" (Take C) (Green, Heyman) – 3:08 #"Don't Blame Me" (Take A, Master) (

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), "On th ...

Jimmy McHugh James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, J ...

) – 2:49 #"Drifting on a Reed" (Take B, Alternate) – 2:58 #"Drifting on a Reed" (Take D, Alternate) – 2:55 #"Drifting on a Reed" (a.k.a. "Air Conditioning") (Take E, Master) – 2:54 #"Quasimado (Quasimodo)" (Take A, Alternate) – 2:56 #"Quasimado (Quasimodo)" (a.k.a. "Trade Winds") (Take B, Master) – 2:55 #"Charlie's Wig" (a.k.a. "Bongo Bop") – 2:48 #"Charlie's Wig" (a.k.a. "Drifting on a Road") – 2:48 #"Charlie's Wig" (Take E, Master) – 2:44 #"Bongo Beep" (a.k.a. "Dexterity") (Take B) – 2:59 #"Bongo Beep" (a.k.a. "Bird Feathers" and "Charlie's Wig") (Take C) – 2:59 #"Crazeology (Little Benny)" (Take A, Excerpt) ( Little Benny Harris) – 1:03 #"Crazeology (Little Benny)" (Take B, Excerpt) (Harris) – :35 #"Crazeology (Little Benny)" (Take C) (Harris) – 2:59 #"Crazeology (Little Benny)" (Take D, Master 2. Also issues as Move and Bird Feathers) (Harris) – 3:00 #" How Deep is the Ocean?" (Take A, Master) (

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russi ...

) – 3:25 #"How Deep is the Ocean?" (Take B, Alternate) (Berlin) – 3:25

Personnel

Performance

*Melvin Broiles –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*Jimmy Bunn –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Red Callender George Sylvester "Red" Callender (March 6, 1916 – March 8, 1992) was an American string bass and tuba player. He is perhaps best known as a jazz musician, but worked with an array of pop, rock and vocal acts as a member of The Wrecking Cre ...

– bass *Earl Coleman –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

– trumpet *

Arnold Fishkind Arnold Fishkind, sometimes credited as Arnold Fishkin (born July 20, 1919 – September 6, 1999,) was an American jazz bassist who appeared on over 100 albums. Early life Fishkind was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, and grew up in Freeport, Long ...

– bass * Russ Freeman – piano *

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first rec ...

– piano * Arv Garrison –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Wardell Gray Wardell Gray (February 13, 1921 – May 25, 1955) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who straddled the swing and bebop periods. Biography Early years Gray was born in Oklahoma City, the youngest of four children. He spent his early chil ...

– sax (tenor) *

J.J. Johnson J.J. Johnson (January 22, 1924 – February 4, 2001), born James Louis Johnson and also known as Jay Jay Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. Johnson was one of the earliest trombonists to embrace bebop. Biography ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

Duke Jordan Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan (April 1, 1922 – August 8, 2006) was an American jazz pianist. Biography Jordan was born in New York and raised in Brooklyn where he attended Boys High School. An imaginative and gifted pianist, Jordan was a regula ...

– piano *

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups a ...

– guitar *Bob "Dingbod" Kesterson – bass *

Don Lamond Donald Douglas Lamond Jr. (August 18, 1920 – December 23, 2003) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Born in Oklahoma City, Lamond attended the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore in the early 1940s, and played with Sonny Dunham and Boyd ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Dodo Marmarosa Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa (December 12, 1925 – September 17, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Originating in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marmarosa became a professional musician in his mid-teens, and toured with several ...

– piano *

– trumpet *Vic McMillan – bass *

– sax (alto) *

Roy Porter Roy Sydney Porter, FBA (31 December 1946 – 3 March 2002) was a British historian known for his work on the history of medicine. He retired in 2001 from the director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine at University College L ...

– drums *

Tommy Potter Charles Thomas Potter (September 21, 1918 – March 1, 1988) was an American jazz double bass player, best known for having been a member of Charlie Parker's "classic quintet", with Miles Davis, between 1947 and 1950. Born in Philadelphia, Penn ...

– bass *Jimmy Pratt – drums *

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, 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 h ...

– drums *

Shorty Rogers Milton "Shorty" Rogers (born Milton Rajonsky; April 14, 1924 – November 7, 1994) was an American jazz musician, one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played trumpet and flugelhorn and was in demand for his skills as an arran ...

– trumpet *

Lucky Thompson Eli "Lucky" Thompson (June 16, 1924 – July 30, 2005) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist whose playing combined elements of swing music, swing and bebop. Although John Coltrane usually receives the most credit for bringing th ...

– sax (tenor) *Harold "Doc" West – drums

Production

Will Friedwald Will Friedwald (born September 16, 1961) is an American author and music critic. He has written for newspapers that include the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''New York Times'', ''Village Voice'', ''Newsday'', ''New York Observer'', and ''New York Su ...

–

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New aud ...

producer *Tony Williams – reissue producer, digital engineer *Ben Jordan –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*David J. Weiner –

associate producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

*Bernard Brightman –

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

– historical research

References

External links

Sound samples
hosted with permission at

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

{{Authority control Charlie Parker albums 1996 compilation albums Albums produced by Bernard Brightman