Bird and Diz

Bird and Diz
Studio album by
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
ReleasedJuly/August 1952[1]
RecordedFebruary–May 5, 1949; and June 6, 1950; in New York City
GenreBebop
Length24:58
LabelClef/Verve
ProducerNorman Granz
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie chronology
Diz 'N' Bird In Concert
(1947) 		Bird and Diz
(1952) 		Jazz at Massey Hall
(1953)
Charlie Parker chronology
Bird and Diz
(1952) 		South of the Border
(1952)
Alternate cover
1986 Verve vinyl reissue
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
DownBeat[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]

Bird and Diz is a studio album by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. It was recorded primarily on June 6, 1950, in New York City.[7] Two tracks featured on the original pressing, "Passport" and "Visa", were recorded by Parker, without Gillespie and with different personnel than the other tracks, in March and May 1949.[8] The album was originally issued in 1952 in 10" format as a collection of 78 rpm singles on the Verve subsidiary label Clef Records.[9][10]

Although produced by Norman Granz, known for large ensembles at the time,[2] the album contains compositions performed with the standard bebop instrumentation of saxophone, trumpet, piano, bass, and drums.[11] In a 1952 four-star review of Bird and Diz, a DownBeat magazine columnist wrote of Granz's contribution to the album's sound, stating "Though there is no mention of bop in Norman Granz'[s] notes, we owe him a salvo for reminding us through this LP that this music is still very much alive."[3] It is the final collaborative studio recording by Parker and Gillespie,[7] and has been reissued several times by Verve and PolyGram Records.[11]

  1. ^ Billboard August 16, 1952
  2. ^ a b AllMusic review
  3. ^ a b Columnist. "Review of Bird & Diz". DownBeat: March 1952.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 416.
  5. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 1018.
  6. ^ Swenson, John, ed. (1999). The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide. Random House. p. 529.
  7. ^ a b Patrick, James (1997), pp. 1–3.
  8. ^ Mercury Records Collection - Numerical Listing of Mercury Analogue LPs: MG C-512 Bird & Diz Archived 2011-09-26 at the Wayback Machine. Microgroove. Retrieved on 2009-06-22.
  9. ^ Chell, Samuel. Review of Bird & Diz. All About Jazz. Retrieved on 2009-06-22.
  10. ^ Clef Records Catalog - The Jazz Scene, JATP, 100, 500 series: MGC 512 Bird And Diz. Jazz Discography Project. Retrieved on 2009-06-22.
  11. ^ a b Patrick, James (1997), pp. 5–6.