"Parker's Mood" is a piece of music originally performed by

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 ...

as an improvised blues in 1948.

Vocalese Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation. Definition Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...

lyrics were later written and recorded by

King Pleasure King Pleasure (born Clarence Beeks; March 24, 1922 – March 21, 1982) was an American jazz vocalist and an early master of vocalese, where a singer sings words to a well-known instrumental solo. Biography Born as Clarence Beeks in Oakdale, Ten ...

and

Eddie Jefferson Eddie Jefferson (August 3, 1918 – May 9, 1979) was an American jazz vocalist and lyricist. He is credited as an innovator of vocalese, a musical style in which lyrics are set to an instrumental composition or solo. Jefferson himself claims t ...

Original recording

Alto saxophonist Charlie Parker recorded "Parker's Mood" in New York City on September 18, 1948. The other musicians for the

Savoy Records Savoy Records is an American record company and label established by Herman Lubinsky in 1942 in Newark, New Jersey. Savoy specialized in jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music. In September 2017, Savoy was acquired by Concord Bicycle Music. ...

session were pianist

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

, bassist

Curley Russell Dillon "Curley" Russell (19 March 1917 – 3 July 1986) was an American jazz musician, who played bass on many bebop recordings. He was born in New York, United States. He was nicknamed "Curley" for his curly hair. A member of the Tadd Damero ...

, and drummer

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 ...

. There were five takes: two false starts and three complete takes. The complete takes were improvised spontaneously, with the probable exception of the opening two bars, which are the same on each take. Parker "varies the phrasing and motivic relatedness of the opening melodic idea in each take". The tempo across the takes varies from 65 quarter notes to 87. "Parker's Mood" is a B blues. "The introduction begins on G minor ..The feature then proceeds to C minor, which ..suggests i–iv in G minor (or v–i in C minor)." Then, from the third bar, "the rhythm section begin a four-bar chord progression that establishes B major through a tritone substitution of each chord of a vi–ii–V progression with major-seventh chords as the vi substitute (DM7) and the ii substitute (GM7)". The piece was copyrighted on November 15, 1948.

Vocalese versions

lyrics were added in 1953 by

. Lewis appeared on piano in Pleasure's recording of it for

Prestige Records Prestige Records is a jazz record company and label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock in New York City which issued recordings in the mainstream, bop, and cool jazz idioms. The company recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz music ...

, which was released around 1954. Separately,

wrote vocalese lyrics. Jefferson's version was retitled as "Bless My Soul" and recorded in 1962 for his album ''Letter from Home''.

Reception and legacy

Jazz historian

Ted Gioia Ted Gioia (born October 21, 1957) is an American jazz critic and music historian. He is author of eleven books, including ''Music: A Subversive History'', '' The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire'', ''The History of Jazz'' and ''Delta Blu ...

described Parker's performance of "Parker's Mood" as a "bittersweet lament

hat is A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

as deep a statement of the blues as exists in the jazz tradition". Jazz writer and musician

Brian Priestley Brian Priestley (born 10 July 1940)Many sources list Priestley's year of birth as 1946, but this is inaccurate. See Priestley's entry in ''The Rough Guide to Jazz'' anon his revised Charlie Parker study. is an English jazz writer, pianist and a ...

categorised the piece as a "slow blues masterpiece". By late 2018, there had been at least 90 recordings of Parker's piece.

References

Bibliography * * {{cite book , last=Priestley , first=Brian , author-link=Brian Priestley , title=Chasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker , year=2005 , publisher=Equinox , isbn=978-1-84553-036-5 1948 compositions Compositions by Charlie Parker Jazz compositions in B-flat major