Bird and Diz

Bird and Diz
Studio album by
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
ReleasedJuly/August 1952
RecordedFebruary–May 5, 1949; and June 6, 1950; in New York City
GenreBebop
Length24:58
LabelClef/Verve
ProducerNorman Granz
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie chronology
Diz 'N' Bird In Concert
(1947)		 Bird and Diz
(1952)		 Jazz at Massey Hall
(1953)
Charlie Parker chronology
Bird and Diz
(1952)		 South of the Border
(1952)
Alternate cover
1986 Verve vinyl reissue
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarHalf star
DownBeatStarStarStarStar
The Encyclopedia of Popular MusicStarStarStarStar
The Penguin Guide to JazzStarStarStar
The Rolling Stone Album GuideStarStarStarStar

Bird and Diz is a studio album by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. It was recorded primarily on June 6, 1950, in New York City. Two tracks featured on the original pressing, "Passport" and "Visa", were recorded by Parker, without Gillespie and with different personnel than the other tracks, in March and May 1949. The album was originally issued in 1952 in 10" format as a collection of 78 rpm singles on the Verve subsidiary label Clef Records.

Although produced by Norman Granz, known for large ensembles at the time, the album contains compositions performed with the standard bebop instrumentation of saxophone, trumpet, piano, bass, and drums. In a 1952 four-star review of Bird and Diz, a DownBeat magazine columnist wrote of Granz's contribution to the album's sound, stating "Though there is no mention of bop in Norman Granz'[s] notes, we owe him a salvo for reminding us through this LP that this music is still very much alive." It is the final collaborative studio recording by Parker and Gillespie, and has been reissued several times by Verve and PolyGram Records.

Track listing

Included on the original LP, "Passport" and "Visa" were omitted from the reissue because they were not recorded during the 1950 Bird and Diz session.

Side one

TrackRecordedSong NumberSong titleWriter(s)Time
1.6/6/50C 410-4BloomdidoCharlie Parker3:25
2.6/6/50C 413-2My Melancholy BabyErnie M. Burnett and George A. Norton3:24
3.6/6/50C 415-4Relaxin' with LeeCharlie Parker2:47
4.5/5/49C 295-2PassportCharlie Parker3:00

Side two

TrackRecordedSong NumberSong titleWriterTime
1.6/6/50C 414–11Leap FrogBenny Harris and Charlie Parker2:29
2.6/6/50C 411-4An Oscar for TreadwellCharlie Parker3:23
3.6/6/50C 412-6MohawkCharlie Parker3:35
4.2/3/49C 293-4VisaCharlie Parker2:55

CD reissue

The Verve/PolyGram remaster editions feature 18 additional takes and liner notes by music scholar James Patrick and producer Norman Granz.

  1. "Bloomdido" – 3:25
  2. "My Melancholy Baby" – 3:24
  3. "Relaxin' with Lee" – 2:47
  4. "Leap Frog" – 2:29
  5. "An Oscar for Treadwell" – 3:23
  6. "Mohawk" – 3:36
  7. "My Melancholy Baby (Complete Take)" – 3:17
  8. "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 4 Complete Take)" – 3:56
  9. "Leap Frog (Take 11 Complete Take)" – 2:34
  10. "Leap Frog (Take 8 Complete Take)" – 2:02
  11. "Leap Frog (Take 9 Complete Take)" – 2:06
  12. "An Oscar for Treadwell (Take 4 Complete Take)" – 3:21
  13. "Mohawk (Take 3 Complete Take)" – 3:48
  14. "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 1 Breakdown Take)" – 0:17
  15. "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 2 Breakdown Take)" – 1:08
  16. "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 3 False Start)" – 0:04
  17. "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 5 Breakdown Take)" – 0:24
  18. "Leap Frog (Take 1 Breakdown Take)" – 0:26
  19. "Leap Frog (Take 7 Breakdown Take)" – 0:14
  20. "Leap Frog (Take 10 Breakdown Take)" – 0:40
  21. "Leap Frog (Take 2 Breakdown Take)" – 0:18
  22. "Leap Frog (Take 6 Breakdown Take)" – 0:20
  23. "Leap Frog (Take 4 Breakdown Take)" – 0:13
  24. "Leap Frog (Take 3 Breakdown Take)" – 0:41

Personnel

Musicians

Production

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Billboard August 16, 1952
  2. 1 2 AllMusic review
  3. 1 2 Columnist. "Review of Bird & Diz". DownBeat: March 1952.
  4. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 416.
  5. ↑ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 1018.
  6. ↑ Swenson, John, ed. (1999). The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide. Random House. p. 529.
  7. 1 2 Patrick, James (1997), pp. 1–3.
  8. ↑ Mercury Records Collection - Numerical Listing of Mercury Analogue LPs: MG C-512 Bird & Diz Archived 2011-09-26 at the Wayback Machine. Microgroove. Retrieved on 2009-06-22.
  9. ↑ Chell, Samuel. Review of Bird & Diz. All About Jazz. Retrieved on 2009-06-22.
  10. ↑ Clef Records Catalog - The Jazz Scene, JATP, 100, 500 series: MGC 512 Bird And Diz. Jazz Discography Project. Retrieved on 2009-06-22.
  11. 1 2 Patrick, James (1997), pp. 5–6.
Bibliography