Five 50s Charlie Parker albums to be reissued in a shared box set
The 10-inch Charlie Parker vinyl collection of the early 1950s will be re-released on Verve / UMe in December this year. They were originally recorded for Mercury Records and Clef Records. These are five albums by the great jazz saxophonist: Charlie Parker With Strings (1950), Bird and Diz (1952), Charlie Parker Plays South of the Border (1952), Charlie Parker with Strings (vol.2) (1953) and Charlie Parker (1954). All of them, except for “Bird and Diz”, are reissued for the first time.
This collection is recognized as one of the greatest bop bestsellers of all time. On Mercury Records and Clef Records, Parker plays with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Buddy Rich and other jazz stars of the second half of the 20th century.
The sound of the upcoming release will differ from the original, and hopefully for the better: the material was remastered by Alex Abrash on AA Mastering.
The box set will also include rare photographs, information about the recordings, and essays by writing pianist Ethan Iverson and journalist David Ritz. All of this will be packaged in a 10-inch booklet.
The box set is already available for pre-order; in the US, its price was $100. The expected shipping date is December 16, 2020.
