Charlie Parker had a complicated relationship with his hometown of Kansas City, MO owing both to its history of racial segregation and to his strong ties to his family and friends there.
This new set of rare recordings dating from 1941–1951, entitled Bird in Kansas City chronicle Bird’s evolution from a blossoming soloist with the Jay McShann Band into a brilliant improviser who dominated the jazz landscape for decades to come.
Most of the songs included on this forthcoming release, out October 25, have never been heard before and some were not even known to have existed in the first place.
In addition to two unreleased 78s with the McShann band, this set offers two sets of private recordings (at the home of Bird’s friend Phil Baxter and at Vic Damon’s studio) made with local musicians and a very relaxed-sounding Parker. In the recordings, he has the room to really stretch out and show usthe shape of jazz that was to come in his wake.
This isn’t the only essential Bird release to have recently arrived.
Back in December, Verve Records/UMe and Third Man Records reissued Charlie Parker’s 1957 collection Now’s The Time: The Genius of Charlie Parker #3, as part of the Verve By Request series pressed at Third Man Pressing in Detroit, Michigan.
The record was mastered from original analog sources by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. As with all albums in the series, the LP was available in two audiophile-grade pressings: 180-gram black vinyl and a limited edition 180-gram yellow color vinyl variant. The Third Man Edition, which also includes a two-color, screen-printed jacket on archival French cover stock, custom printed and assembled in Detroit, was available exclusively via Third Man Records and uDiscoverMusic.
Now’s The Time: The Genius of Charlie Parker #3 served as the third in a series of albums expanding on Bird’s 10” Clef releases from the early 1950s. The LP features some of Parker’s purest recordings and strongest playing, featuring two different quartets—including a consortium of bona fide jazz legends: pianists Hank Jones and Al Haig, bassists Percy Heath and Teddy Kotick, and drummer Max Roach.
