Charlie ''Bird'' Parker
(Kansas City 29.8.1920 - 12.3.1955)



Quintets 1945-51 2002
New York To Hollywood 1942-1947 2002
Boss Bird 2002
Bird After Dark 2002
Young Bird Vols. 1 & 2 1940-44 2002
Volume 4 1948-50 2002
Timeless Charlie Parker 2002
Soulful Mood 2002
Plays It Cool 2002
Dial Masters & Roost Sessions 2002
Complete Savoy & Dial Studio Sessions 2002
Charlie Parker 1950 2002
Charlie Parker 2002
Burnin Bird 2002
Bird At Birdland 2002
Bird (Ost) 2002
Best Of The Complete Savoy & Dial 2002
Best Of The Complete Live Performance 2002
4 1948-50: The Alternative Takes 2002
Washington Concerts 2001
Vol.03 1947-48:The Alternative Takes 2001
Savoy Recordings 4 (Ltd Ed) (Remastered) 2001
Savoy Recordings 3 (Ltd Ed) 2001
Savoy Recordings 2 (Ltd Ed) (Remastered) 2001
Savoy Recordings 1 (Ltd Ed) 2001
Ornithology 2001
Live At The Royal Roost 2001
Klactoveedsedstene 2001
Jumpin At The Roost 1948-49 2001
Complete Royal Roost Live: Recordings On Savoy 1 2001
Bird Of Paradise 2001
Alternative Takes Volume 2 1947 2001
Alternative Takes Volume 1 1945-47 2001
1947-48 3: The Alternative Takes 2001
1947 Vol 2: The Alternative Takes 2001
1945-47 Vol. 1: The Alternative Takes 2001
Vol. 2-Best Of The Bird 2000
Street Beat 2000
Quasimodo 2000
Parker's Mood Ko-Ko 2000
Ornithology 2000
New Bird: Rare Live Recordings 2000
Les Incontournables (Remastered) (Ltd Ed) (Fra) 2000
Ken Burns Jazz 2000
Jazz Masters (Eng) 2000
Jazz At Tiffany's 2000
Groovin High 2000
Gold Collection (Eng) 2000
Complete Savoy Masters 2000
Complete Dial Masters 2000
Bird Of Paradise 2000
Bird Goes Latin: Charlie Parker Originals 2000
Best Of The Dial Years 2000
1947-49 2000
1944-48 Complete Savoy & Dial 2000
Ultimate Charlie Parker 1999
Ultimate Bebop 1999
Talkin' Bird 1999
Forever Gold 1999
Cool Blues 1999
Charlie Parker:1945-1953 1999
Bird Returns Deluxe 1999
Bird 1999
Bebop (Eng) 1999
1945-53 From Dizzy To Miles 1999
Masterworks,1946-1947 1998
Jazz Philharmonic,1946 1998
Jazz At The Philharmonic 1946 1998
Gold Collection 1998
Complete Savoy Live 1998
April In Paris (Bonus Tracks) (Jpn) 1998
1947 1998
Yardbird Suite 1997
Groovin High 1997
Newly Discovered Sides 1996
Ledgendary Dial Masters Volumes 1&2 1996
Dial Sessions 1945-1947 1996
Montreal 1995
Immortal Charlie Parker Deluxe 1995
Bird's Best Bop On Verve 1995
Vol. 28-Verve Jazz Masters 1994
Vol. 15-Verve Jazz Masters 1994
Essential 1994
Best Of The Bird 1994
Immortal Sessions Vol.2:1949-1953 1992
Immortal Sessions Vol.1:1945-1948 1992
Jazz Collector Edition 1991
Jazz 'Round Midnight 1991
Jam Session 1991
Immortal Charlie Parker 1991
Cole Porter Songbook 1991
Bird At St. Nick's 1990
Bird-Original Recordings 1988
Bird 1988
Very Best Of Charlie Parker 1987
Once There Was Bird 1961
Bird Symbols 1961
Bird Is Free 1961
Jazz At Massey Hall 1953
Bird At The Hi-Hat 1953
Big Band 1953
At Storyville 1953
Rockland Palace Concert 1 1952
Complete Legendary Rockland Palace Dance Date 1952
Boston 1952
Happy Bird 1951
Evening At Home With The Bird 1950
Bird At St. Nick's 1950
Bird & Diz 1950
With Strings-The Master Takes 1949
Jazz At The Philharmonic 1949
South Of The Border 1948
Newly Discovered Sides 1948
Charlie Parker 1948
Bird Returns 1948
Bird On 52nd Street 1948
Vol. 1-Memorial 1947
Diz'n Bird At Carnegie Hall 1947
Charlie Parker 1947
Vol. 2-Bebop & Bird 1946
Vol. 1-Bebop & Bird 1946
Confirmation-Best Of... 1946
Complete Bird On Verve 1946
Carvin' The Bird 1946
Yardbird Suite-Ultimate Charlie 1945
Vol. 2-Memorial 1945
Genius Of Charlie Parker 1945
Charlie Parker Story 1945

Charles Christopher Parker Jr. received his first music lessons on the baritone horn while attending Lincoln High School in 1931. Three years later he dropped out of school to concentrate on mastering the alto saxophone. In 1936, he spent the summer playing with George E. Lee's band and married his first of four wives. Between 1937 and 1939, Parker played in Kansas City; he spent most of 1939 in New York, where he frequently heard the virtuoso pianist Art Tatum, and began working out the rhythmic and harmonic ideas that would form the basis of modern jazz. In 1945, Parker led his own group in New York, made numerous combo recordings in the new and controversial bebop style, and played extensively with Dizzy Gillespie. In 1946, Parker suffered a nervous breakdown related to his heroin addiction and alcoholism, and was confined for six months at Camarillo State Hospital. The following year, he made a triumphant return to New York and formed his celebrated quintet featuring Miles Davis and Max Roach. For the next four years, he worked almost exclusively in New York and recorded the majority of his most renowned performances. During the late 1940s Parker toured in Europe, and by 1951, he rose to the status of the most influential jazz musician in the world. His notoriety as a heroin addict had also become legendary, and the New York police eventually withdrew his cabaret card (a requisite to working in New York nightclubs). Thereafter, he adopted a more itinerant lifestyle, playing with pick-up groups in Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, Chicago, and in California. His cabaret card was reinstated in 1953, but by then he was beset by sporadic employment, debt, and failing physical and mental health. He twice attempted suicide in 1954 and voluntarily committed himself to New York's Bellevue Hospital. His last public appearance was on March 5, 1955, at Birdland, the club named in his honor in 1949. A chronic abuser of drugs and alcohol, Parker died in 1955 at the age of 34. His life formed the basis for Clint Eastwood's 1988 film ''Bird''.