Name: Charlie Parker With Strings
Brand: Charlie Parker

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

5345888

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

[r5142713]

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2016-04-01

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Universal

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

00600753458884

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

1703690

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2016-02-15

60251703690

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Charlie Parker

Genre GB

Jazz

Label GB

Verve

Charlie Parker, an American alto saxophonist and composer, was a pioneer of bebop music. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time. Known as 'Bird', Parker was a virtuoso on the saxophone and introduced groundbreaking harmonic ideas into jazz. His innovative use of rapid passing chords, altered chords, and chord substitutions revolutionized the genre.
Parker tragically passed away at the age of 34 in New York City. Although his official cause of death was lobar pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer, he also suffered from cirrhosis and had experienced a heart attack. Remarkably, the coroner who performed his autopsy mistakenly estimated Parker's body to be much older than it actually was.

Verve Records, also known as Verve, is a multinational record label that was founded in 1956 by jazz impresario Norman Granz. The label originated from the consolidation of Granz's earlier labels, Norgran Records and Clef Records. In 1960, Verve was sold to MGM Records and became a subsidiary of the company. Throughout the 1960s, Verve expanded its music genres to include comedy, pop, R&B, rock, and folk music.

During this time, Verve had successful jazz recordings from artists such as Stan Getz, Kai Winding, Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, and Jimmy Smith under the direction of Creed Taylor. In 1972, MGM sold its record division to Polydor which brought Verve into the newly formed PolyGram family of record labels. As a result of this transition, Verve focused primarily on jazz reissues while other non-jazz releases were absorbed into Polydor.

In the late 1980s, PolyGram decided to revive Verve with both reissue programs and new artist signings. This revitalization led to strong sales for both new material and remastered classic recordings. With the merger of PolyGram and Vivendi Universal in 1999 creating Universal Music Group (UMG), Verve Records became part of The Verve Music Group alongside other influential labels such as Blue Note Records and Impulse! Records.

When producer Norman Granz decided to let Charlie Parker record standards with a full string section (featuring Mitch Miller on oboe!), the purists cried sellout, but nothing could be further from the truth. There's a real sense of involvement from Bird on these sides, which collect up all the master takes and also include some live tracks from Carnegie Hall that — judging from the sometimes uneasy murmurings of the crowd — amply illustrate just how weirdly this mixture of bop lines against "legit" arrangements was perceived. The music on this collection is lush, poetic, romantic as hell, and the perfect antidote to a surfeit of jazz records featuring undisciplined blowing. There's a lot of jazz, but there's only one Bird.

Charlie Parker With Strings

Music GB

Buy Charlie Parker - Charlie Parker With Strings (Vinyl, CD) now from Rough Trade - independent purveyors of great music, since 1976.