(Almost) complete Charlie Parker series

[mjzee]

Is the Bird's Eyes series still available from Philology? I know this has come up in other threads, but without satisfactory resolution. I wrote an email to Philology, and got a response I found baffling and inscrutable. So: Can these be purchased; if so, at what price and from which source?

[paul secor]

Amazon has some used Bird's Eyes CDs at high prices. Cadence has nine volumes available at reasonable prices. That seems to be about it online - at least as far as I've been able to ascertain.

I believe that Cadence used to distribute Philology. They carry a lot of Philology titles, so perhaps they still do.

Edited June 19, 2011 by paul secor

[kh1958]

I bought the series from Cadence years ago. They appear to still have nine of the volumes in stock (including volume 17), for $16 each.

Blue N Boogie has a wonderful complete Bird solo; the Dizzy solo is nearly complete but ends abruptly--the sound of the instruments is clear, but there is an extreme amount of surface noise on the source recording.

No, the 22 CD volume set of Bird's Eyes is not complete. I don't have the succeeding CDR volumes.

Edited June 19, 2011 by kh1958

[brownie]

Hopefully (one can always dream?!?), Frémeaux will issue the Parker material they are not including in the current Intégrale in a later series!

The complete series would then match their splendid Django Reinhardt and Louis Armstrong sets!

The Complete Bird Frémeaux would also be a much better proposition than the Philology Bird's Eyes LPs and CDs. These were a mess, even if they were more than welcome by introducing new material that was unavailable anywhere else until they turned up on the label!

[JSngry]

Bird might well be the only person of whom I'd pay the necessary price to have every recorded note..if I had the money at the necessary time.

Some days are better than others, ya' know?

[Quasimado]

Is the Bird's Eyes series still available from Philology? I know this has come up in other threads, but without satisfactory resolution. I wrote an email to Philology, and got a response I found baffling and inscrutable. So: Can these be purchased; if so, at what price and from which source?

According to their Homepage, under "Live Catalogue":

Charlie Parker - 25 *official* cds plus 80 *unofficial* - Total 105

Paolo (owner) will send you a list of the *unofficial* if you ask ...

Q

[JSngry]

When I can afford the answer, I will definitely ask.

[John L]

As I recall, the unofficial CDs reissue much of the music on the official CDs. So the number of actual CDs with different music is well below 105.

[brownie]

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.

Te Philology CD was the original release of the music from the concert. The liner notes by Bird specialist Robert Bregman indicate the offering 'was discovered in a used record shop in Philly'. Parker's solo was indeed outstanding. One of his best!

A pity no more music from the event was uncovered!

The concert was attended by two young musicians Benny Golson and John Coltrane.

Golson remembered the concert in this interview.

[John L]

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?

I don't know about the "unofficial series," but the official series avoided the bootleg material that was available on other labels, i.e. no Birdland with Fats, no Carnegie Hall broadcasts, no Royal Roost, etc.

[mracz]

Yes, I have the Blue 'n Boogie on the Philology LP; BTW if anyone is looking for a copy, it's the last track on Fremeaux Vol 2. Thanks for passing on the link to the Golson interview; a nice one. I have a few of the Philology Parker reissues, but in general, I've found them to be rather chaotic and maddening (one of the later ones had some completely unrelated Louis Armstrong tracks tacked on), but at least he got out a lot of material (like the Clyde Bernhardt stuff) that was otherwise unavailable. I emailed Paolo a few years ago about the Prez series, and he kindly sent me very complete PDFs of his Bird, Prez and Brownie material (much of the latter has of course now come out on various Andorran labels). He was selling them for 15 euros per CDR, plus quite a high postal charge, and I never got around to ordering any.

[mjzee]

I just posted in the "All Things eMusic" thread that they now have 2 Bird's Eyes titles.

[king ubu]

As I recall, the unofficial CDs reissue much of the music on the official CDs. So the number of actual CDs with different music is well below 105.

With "unofficial" you mean CD-Rs?

[bichos]

vol. 4 is out with the dials, bands for bonds broadcasts and the carnegie hall concert with dizzy.

keep boppin´

marcel

[djcavanagh]

According to their Homepage, under "Live Catalogue":

Charlie Parker - 25 *official* cds plus 80 *unofficial* - Total 105

Paolo (owner) will send you a list of the *unofficial* if you ask ...

Q

Can anyone point me to their homepage. I couldn't find it in a brief search.

Thanks

Denis

[djcavanagh]

Never mind, this seems to be it:

http://philologyjazz.wordpress.com/

[bichos]

keep boppin´

marcel

[brownie]

Volume 6 is out now...

Content (in French mostly)

http://www.fremeaux.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=1474&category_id=64&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=204

[brownie]

And now volume 7 comes out

Its content:

http://www.fremeaux.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=64&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=1543&option=com_virtuemart