Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Theo Croker’s Dream … Manifested!
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
The new album Unheard Bird includes 58 previously unrleased studio takes that saxophonist Charlie Parker recorded in the periof of 1949–’52.
(Photo: DownBeat Archives)Rudresh Mahanthappa’s album Bird Calls (ACT), which topped the Jazz Album category in the 2015 DownBeat Critics Poll, provided the jazz world with undeniable proof that today, more than 60 years after his death, musicians continue to be inspired by the groundbreaking music of saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920–’55).
Manhanthappa’s disc consists of his own highly original music that nods to Parker. But for jazz fans, scholars and musicians who want to study the work of the man himself, Verve/UMe will soon unveil Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes, a new collection of previously unreleased tracks by Parker.
The two-disc set, available July 1, includes 58 previously unreleased studio takes recorded between 1949 and 1952. The set was co-produced by Phil Schaap, the eminent jazz historian who serves as a curator for Jazz At Lincoln Center.
Discovered in a cache of materials owned by a former associate of Norman Granz—the founder of Verve Records and visionary producer of these sessions—the newly discovered takes allow the listener inside the private domain between Parker and Granz as they developed some of the most important music in jazz.
In his highly detailed liner notes, Schaap provides overview, session-by-session history and track-by-track analysis, further illuminating the creative process of Bird’s genius.
Originally issued on Mercury and Clef, but ultimately housed on Verve, the Parker/Granz studio collaborations were thoughtfully conceived to display Bird’s unparalleled talents in a variety of contexts. These included Parker’s four to six piece ensembles (both working and pick-up groups); Latin jazz efforts, some of which were labeled “South of the Border”; the orchestral Charlie Parker including his masterpieces with strings; standard big band; and Parker’s prescient view of the Third Stream.
Unheard Bird touches on all of these, including a couple of brief false starts on “If I Should Lose You” that were not included in the 2015 set Charlie Parker With Strings: Deluxe Edition.
From the Latin side, there are five tracks with Parker as the featured soloist with Machito and his orchestra. Additionally, there are 13 “South of the Border” tracks that feature a rhythm section of Walter Bishop, Teddy Kotick and Roy Haynes or Max Roach, along with Jose Mangual and Luis Miranda on bongos and congas, respectively, and joined on a pair by trumpeter Benny Harris. Listeners can hear snippets of studio chatter, including Bird discussing tempo; on “Tico Tico” he asks studio guests to quiet down lest they ruin the session.
Jazz historians will want to explore the 10 tracks from a Cole Porter project that was never completed due to Parker’s illness and untimely passing. Featuring a big band that included such titans as Oscar Peterson, Freddie Green, Flip Phillips and Ray Brown, Bird digs into three Porter classics: “Night and Day,” “What Is This Thing Called Love” and “Almost Like Being in Love.”
More than half of the package features Bird in the small-group, hardcore bop settings for which he was best known. This features a reuniting of Parker’s quintet, referred to as The Golden Era BeBop Five, the only Granz-produced recordings by this ensemble. These 14 tracks feature Kenny Dorham, Al Haig, Tommy Potter and Max Roach. They are joined for four more by trombonist Tommy Turk and Carlos Vidal on conga.
Dizzy Gillespie joins Bird for 10 tracks, along with Thelonious Monk, Curley Russell and Buddy Rich. The all-Parker program includes complete run-throughs of “An Oscar For Treadwell,” “Bloomdido” and “Mohawk.” A quartet setting brings Hank Jones, Ray Brown and Buddy Rich to the bandstand for explorations of the Raye/DePaul gem “Star Eyes” and Parker’s “Blues (Fast).”
To round out the new, 69-track set, included are the songs’ master takes. The unusual math here—58 unreleased takes plus 20 master takes that somehow equal 69 tracks—is due to the producers combining some of the shorter takes for this release.
To record Dream Manifest (Dom Recs), Croker convened artists from his current and recent past ensembles, plus special guests.
Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
Jul 17, 2025 12:44 PM
You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
Galper was often regarded as an underrated master of his craft.
Jul 22, 2025 10:58 AM
Hal Galper, a pianist, composer and arranger who enjoyed a substantial performing career but made perhaps a deeper…
Chuck Mangione on the cover of the May 8, 1975, edition of DownBeat.
Jul 29, 2025 1:00 PM
Chuck Mangione, one of the most popular trumpeters in jazz history, passed away on July 24 at home in Rochester, New…
