undefined

Product Description ------------------- Compared to his other albums, Bird's improvisations here are more distilled and economical; at the same time, he's never been more clear-headed than this (it's no wonder Parker himself named this record as his personal favorite)! the lush string arrangements and rhythm section's delicate swing intertwine on Just Friends; Everything Happens to Me; April in Paris; Summertime; I Didn't Know What Time It Was; If I Should Lose You; Dancing in the Dark; Out of Nowhere; Laura; They Can't Take That Away from Me; Easy to Love; I'm in the Mood for Love; I'll Remember April; Easy to Love; Autumn in New York, and more. 24 tracks in all! .com ---- Charlie Parker welcomed the rtunity to record standards with a small string ensemble in 1949, and the results are stunning, his liquid alto soaring over the tuneful and only occasionally stiff arrangements. Along the way, he invests tunes like "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "Laura" with a unique blend of bluesy realism and mercurial improvisation. The CD adds live versions from a Carnegie Hall concert, and there are also two brilliant versions of Neal Hefti's "Repetition." The 1947 version has Bird flying spontaneously over the dense orchestration of horns, strings, and Latin percussion. --Stuart Broomer P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review ------ In the 1940s, Norman Granz was a jazz visionary in several ways; one of these was his incorporation of strings into a variety of s. Granz ultimately attracted some of the best jazz artists of the era (and of all time). He managed a yet-to-be-duplicated balance of commerm and risk-taking, of business and art, that led to the of some of jazz's landmark s. Charlie Parker With Strings (now on Verve, originally on Clef) is generally acknowledged as the first release to feature a jazz soloist backed by violins. It was just the beginning. Arguably the greatest improviser of all time, Charlie Parker was reputed to have been interested in doing a strings album for years. Granz gave him the rtunity to do it, with strings arranged and conducted by Jimmy Carroll (who was working for Granz at the time). Bird's album was monumental in more than the fact that he added strings - it was also an album of all standards, with Parker clearly stating each melody. "Just Friends" became Parker's biggest-selling single and the record of which he was said to have been most proud. --- JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc. -- From Jazziz See more ( javascript:void(0) )