For years, jazz fans have wondered about the missing spots on Charlie Parker’s discography. But one Bird mystery has been solved with Real Live Recordings’ collection Charlie Parker at Jirayr Zorthian’s Ranch, July 14th, 1952, a group of previously unreleased tracks performed by Bird over 50 years ago.
This collection features Bird playing at a party held by Jirayr Zorthian, a painter and sculptor known for wild, hedonistic celebrations frequented by intellectuals and artists. On July 14, 1952, while Parker attended one of these gatherings and performed with 21-year-old tenor saxophonist Don Wilkerson, 20-year-old alto saxophonist Frank Morgan and even Chet Baker, someone recorded the event.
Included in the collection are Bird’s renditions of “A Night in Tunisia,” “Ornithology,” “Embraceable You” (which was played as background music to a striptease at the party), “Hot House,” “Cool Blues,” two versions of “Scrapple from the Apple” and others. Although these songs are original recordings, RLR remastered and equalized them in order to enhance the sound quality.
Charlie Parker at Jirayr Zorthian’s Ranch, July 14th, 1952 is available now through RLR.
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