mrjazzman Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 are the "Birds Eyes" cd's/lp's on Philology worth searching for. I believe there are 22 of them............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Yes, indeed. But some more than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjazzman Posted February 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Paul, can you elaborate......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 It depends on your minimum sonic threshold. I have the series (25 volumes or so)--some volumes are simply unlistenable, at least by me. That is, the recording is so bad I really can't enjoy the playing. Others contain wonderful gems, of surprising audio qualify. I'm glad I have it, but could probably condense the entire series into just a few CDs that I would listen to repeatedly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 I think Cadence had a lot of these but I don't know if they still do. Some of the sound is on the kind found in the Mosaic. There are some sessions at the Pershing ballroom that are very hard to listen to. Then, there's a session on Vol 18 at a club in LA that's really good sound and definitely worth it. So, it depends on your threshold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 I would say the Philology Bird's Eyes series is for Charlie Parker completists only. I'm one of those. Unless you want everything from Bird, there are better ways to get the stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjazzman Posted February 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 what better ways are you referring to................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Depends on what you already have from Bird... Do you have the Dials, Savoys, Verves, the Mosaic box of the Dean Benedetti, the 1952 Rockland Palace concert records? Those - and a number of others - are to get into before you start exploring the Bird's Eyes series... There have already been quite a number of Charlie Parker recommendations threads on this Board. For example: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...topic=11301&hl= Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 are the "Birds Eyes" cd's/lp's on Philology worth searching for. I believe there are 22 of them............. The Philology Bird's Eyes series has reached nr. 43. That includes quite a number of duplicates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 (edited) What I think Brownie has in mind are 1) Parker's studio recordings on Savoy, Dial, Verve, and smaller labels. 2) Some of the best live recordings that are not included on Philology because they were available elsewhere (Philology only tried to supplement what was not otherwise available). That includes Carnegie Hall (1947, 1949), Massey Hall, the Royal Roost recordings (1948-49), Birdland 1950 with Fats and Bud, Cafe Society, Bird in Boston, Bird in Washington DC, Storyville, 1951 Birdland with Diz and Bud, Rockland Palace, and some others. The above recordings tend to be in good sound and are often complete performances. Most of the Philology recordings are only Bird solos in variable sound quality. The Benedetti box is more of the same. These recordings are worth picking up if you already have everything listed above and still hunger for more. That said, there is at least one Philology disc that every Bird fan needs. I forget the volume number, but it has the subtitle of "Bird in 1950." It contains private recordings that have become widely known as "The Apartment Sessions." They have to be heard to be believed. Edited February 22, 2005 by John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Sorry, Brownie. I wasn't even able to answer for you faster than you answered for yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyJazz Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 (edited) That said, there is at least one Philology disc that every Bird fan needs. I forget the volume number, but it has the subtitle of "Bird in 1950." It contains private recordings that have become widely known as "The Apartment Sessions." They have to be heard to be believed. Do you know if this recommendation of yours was originally released on LP? I seem to remember a recording on the Zim(?) label titled "The Apartment Sessions". Have to take a trip into my "archives" to check that out. Edited February 22, 2005 by MartyJazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 That said, there is at least one Philology disc that every Bird fan needs. I forget the volume number, but it has the subtitle of "Bird in 1950." It contains private recordings that have become widely known as "The Apartment Sessions." They have to be heard to be believed. That's vol. 12 of the Bird's Eyes' series. Subtitled 'BIRD IN 1950- Diplomat Hotel, N.Y.C./136th Street Session). That session was also published as 'The Apartment Sessions' by Spotlite in vinyl days! Thank you, John, for elaborating on my quick reply! Those Bird's Eyes series are quite a mess! But that's allright with me. One I enjoyed was vol. 16 with some rare Bird PLUS a 1962 concert by Louis Armstrong in the beautiful city of Florence! Ten tracks with no Bird in sight( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 That said, there is at least one Philology disc that every Bird fan needs. I forget the volume number, but it has the subtitle of "Bird in 1950." It contains private recordings that have become widely known as "The Apartment Sessions."  They have to be heard to be believed. Do you know if this recommendation of yours was originally released on LP? I seem to remember a recording on the Zim(?) label titled "The Apartment Sessions". Have to take a trip into my "archives" to check that out. Yes, those Apartment tapes were released on Zim in the USA and Spotlite in England. Can't remember which came first! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Paul, can you elaborate......... Sorry. Didn't mean to give a glib answer with no substance. As brownie said, the Philologies are something to go after once you have the Dials, Savoys, etc., in your collection and in your ears. There are certainly some worthwhile items in the Philology Bird collection. I only have a few Philologies because I have quite a bit of their material on LP. One that I do recommend is Philology W.80.2, Bird's Eyes Vol. 8. It features several cuts of Bird playing with Kenton's band in early 1954. It also contains a recording of Paul Desmond interviewing Bird on a radio program. The Philology series is hit or miss, especially in the area of sound quality (that usually doesn't bother me when it comes to Bird, but some of the things I've heard are next to unlistenable), but there's some great music and some fascinating oddities to be found. (I include the Desmond interview among the latter). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Another one which I think every fan should have is Volume 18, Bird Eyes/Stardust. This has the Live at the Finale Club in L.A. from 1946 (Miles, Joe Albany), a session with Benny Carter, Willie Smith, Nat King Cole, Oscar Moore and Buddy Rich, also from 1946, and a 17 minute interview with John McLellan in Boston from 1953. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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