(Almost) complete Charlie Parker series

[brownie]

After completing their Django Reinhardt Intégrale and on their way to add new volumes to their Louis Armstrong Intégrale, Frémeaux & Associés have just started releasing an Intégrale Charlie Parker. Volume 1 is out.

But this time, it is not a Complete series.

Missing wll be the private recordings because of their sound.

Intégrale Charlie Parker

Too bad because a lot of Bird's best is on low-fi recordings.

[tranemonk]

I've noticed they have several major artists in this series... What is the story with this series???

[jazzbo]

Ha! How I wish someone would collect the complete private recordings!

[paul secor]

Ha! How I wish someone would collect the complete private recordings!

That might be ok for new collectors. I already have so many "private" Bird recordings that it would be a waste of money to buy a complete collection.

[jazzbo]

Well yeah, me too in a sense, but if they were released in a chronological series I know I could fill in some gaps in my collection. . . and that might be good.

[bichos]

After completing their Django Reinhardt Intégrale and on their way to add new volumes to their Louis Armstrong Intégrale, Frémeaux & Associés have just started releasing an Intégrale Charlie Parker. Volume 1 is out.

But this time, it is not a Complete series.

Missing wll be the private recordings because of their sound.

Intégrale Charlie Parker

Too bad because a lot of Bird's best is on low-fi recordings.

thanks for the news, brownie. i think they have great liner notes (as always). but for me there is nothing new on it. in 1995 the "masters of jazz" series on "média 7" was complete. but unfortunately this great project and label disappeared after ca. 200 cds of complete cronological recordings of various artists. more or less impossible to find them in these days.

keep boppin´

marcel

[king ubu]

Yeah, I'd be all for a Frémeaux COMPLETE Bird Series... 150 Volumes of 3CD sets, or whatever it would take!

A complete official/studio series is kind of pointless, I think.

[brownie]

I've noticed they have several major artists in this series... What is the story with this series???

Frémeaux & Associés is a successfull label that specializes in reissuing material from various fields (music, French songs, philosophy, jazz, litterature ...).

Their catalogue is quite impressive and includes works by Albert Camus, Louis Armstrong, Jean-Paul Sartre, Charles Trenet and others!

[EKE BBB]

I think I'll pass, unless I see I can fill in a few gaps in my ornithological collection.

[brownie]

I have the Djangos and the Pops series from Frémeaux. Marvelous job!

But I'll pass the Bird series. An Intégrale is an Intégrale. If too much of the music is missing it's not an Intégrale

[John L]

With Bird, there exist so many fragments of music in poor sound that it almost makes little sense to issue it all together with the rest of his discography. So I can understand Fremeaux in this case.

[Fer Urbina]

I don't think I get the rationale of this "private recordings" being omitted. The "Honey Body" is not a private recording? What about the last tracks on CD3:

Dizzy Gillespie Sextet Concert, Lincoln Square, NYC, Prob. 30/5/1945 : Sweet Georgia Brown;

Dizzy Gillespie Quintet Concert, Philadelphia, 5/6/1945 : Blue ’n Boogie?

Or is this just code for "we're not touching the Mosaic Benedetti box" and a few other things? What about the Town Hall concert released by Uptown?

Wait and see, I guess.

F

[Brad]

Think I have all of this but the thing I find odd about omitting private recordings because of the sound quality is that they've included the Redcross recordings in the hotel room. That isn't exactly pristine sound.

[Bluerein]

Nice spelling of Gillespie.........in the track listing!

[brownie]

Volume 2 is (far...) out...

Details

[GA Russell]

How is the sound on these? Is it as good as the Savoy/Dial and Verve boxes?

[bichos]

this is a good sampler of bird material for people who doesn´t have much of bird´s music. the booklets are always excelent and i suppose that the sound is the best as possible. frémeaux & associés are always high quality! in this second volume is (for me) a highlight: the wonderful live recording of dizzy and bird from billy berg´s 1945. (and i don´t mean the jubilee performances that sometimes labeled as from billy berg´s!). in "52nd street theme" bird quotes at 0:58 "sly mongoose" (imagine: seven years before the other only known recording of that tune with him!) and at 1:12 "tico tico"! he plays very strong and with "verve" on this amazing, astonishing, historic live recordings. and to my knowledge this recording was first on one of phil schaaps "bird flight" broadcasts, than trading in collector´s circles, later on "philology", bird´s eyes vol. 73, later on one of the andorra labels and now here. so this is rare!this are for me one of bird´s best recordings!!!

here are bird and diz at billy berg´s at the time of the recording!!

keep boppin´

marcel

Edited March 17, 2011 by bichos

[brownie]

Volume 3 of the Intégrale 'Lover Man' is out.

Content.

[king ubu]

Having a closer look, these are a bit more complete (with some live recordings) than I initially thought, but still not enough music there that I don't already have, I think.

[mracz]

I think that if this had been really, really complete, I might be tempted to buy the whole lot (the old collector's obsession would rear its head). And most Parker is worth listening to once (or twice or more), but there isn't enough new stuff in any of these 3 disc sets so far to justify me getting them (I'd love to hear those Billy Berg tracks, which I don't think I have, but those are the only ones on that set I don't have!) This is a wonderful opportunity for music-lovers without a lot of Parker to get some really great music at a modest price, clearly with some good notes, etc. I think I'll play wait and see with what shows up on the later volumes and take it from there. One of my favourite unofficial tracks is the Blue 'n Boogie from the Academy of Music in Philadelphia in 1945 (with Gillespie): it's the history as much as the music, fine as it is. It was apparently the first time that Coltrane heard bebop, and after the gig, Dizzy and Bird drove back to NYC, had breakfast and cut the Red Norvo date (Congo Blues, etc). The fact that the recording somehow documents a pivotal historical moment (like the Uptown Town Hall Concert) brings its own special vibe to the music for me as a listener.

[king ubu]

really, really complete.... as in thirteen of these boxes like they did three of Django? :excited:

[mracz]

Point taken! I guess I'll stick with my motley collection of LPs of endlessly various vintages, CDs and CD box sets (even a cassette or two), and thinking about it, there's some Andorran stuff I only have on download. There's enough for a lifetime of listening!

[JSngry]

One of my favourite unofficial tracks is the Blue 'n Boogie from the Academy of Music in Philadelphia in 1945 (with Gillespie):

Has this ever seen any release, even unofficial?

[paul secor]

There evidently was a reisssue on the Philogy label - Bird's Eyes, Vol. 17 (Philology (It) W 847-2) - though I've never heard it.

edit - The clip on Amazon sounds pretty rough, although Bird sings and shines through it all, as always.

Edited June 18, 2011 by paul secor

[JSngry]

Thanks. That raises another question - does the Bird's Eyes in toto series represent the complete (as of their time) collection of unofficial Bird material?