| Bird and Diz | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]()  | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July/August 1952[1] | |||
| Recorded | February–May 5, 1949; and June 6, 1950; in New York City | |||
| Genre | Bebop | |||
| Length | 24:58 | |||
| Label | Clef/Verve | |||
| Producer | Norman Granz | |||
| Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie chronology | ||||
  | ||||
| Charlie Parker chronology | ||||
  | ||||
| Alternate cover | ||||
![]() 1986 Verve vinyl reissue  | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating | 
| AllMusic | |
| DownBeat | |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
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]
Track listing
Included on the original LP, "Passport" and "Visa" were omitted from the reissue because they were not recorded during the 1950 Bird and Diz session.
Side one
| Track | Recorded | Song Number | Song Title | Writer(s) | Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 6/6/50 | C 410-4 | Bloomdido | Charlie Parker | 3:25 | 
| 2. | 6/6/50 | C 413-2 | My Melancholy Baby | Ernie M. Burnett and George A. Norton | 3:24 | 
| 3. | 6/6/50 | C 415-4 | Relaxin' with Lee | Charlie Parker | 2:47 | 
| 4. | 5/5/49 | C 295-2 | Passport | Charlie Parker | 3:00 | 
Side two
| Track | Recorded | Song Number | Song Title | Writer | Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 6/6/50 | C 414-11 | Leap Frog | Benny Harris and Charlie Parker | 2:29 | 
| 2. | 6/6/50 | C 411-4 | An Oscar for Treadwell | Charlie Parker | 3:23 | 
| 3. | 6/6/50 | C 412-6 | Mohawk | Charlie Parker | 3:35 | 
| 4. | 2/3/49 | C 293-4 | Visa | Charlie Parker | 2:55 | 
CD reissue
The Verve/PolyGram remaster editions feature 18 additional takes and liner notes by music scholar James Patrick and producer Norman Granz.
- "Bloomdido" – 3:25
 - "My Melancholy Baby" – 3:24
 - "Relaxin' with Lee" – 2:47
 - "Leap Frog" – 2:29
 - "An Oscar for Treadwell" – 3:23
 - "Mohawk" – 3:36
 - "My Melancholy Baby (Complete Take)" – 3:17
 - "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 4 Complete Take)" – 3:56
 - "Leap Frog (Take 11 Complete Take)" – 2:34
 - "Leap Frog (Take 8 Complete Take)" – 2:02
 - "Leap Frog (Take 9 Complete Take)" – 2:06
 - "An Oscar for Treadwell (Take 4 Complete Take)" – 3:21
 - "Mohawk (Take 3 Complete Take)" – 3:48
 - "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 1 Breakdown Take)" – 0:17
 - "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 2 Breakdown Take)" – 1:08
 - "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 3 False Start)" – 0:04
 - "Relaxin' With Lee (Take 5 Breakdown Take)" – 0:24
 - "Leap Frog (Take 1 Breakdown Take)" – 0:26
 - "Leap Frog (Take 7 Breakdown Take)" – 0:14
 - "Leap Frog (Take 10 Breakdown Take)" – 0:40
 - "Leap Frog (Take 2 Breakdown Take)" – 0:18
 - "Leap Frog (Take 6 Breakdown Take)" – 0:20
 - "Leap Frog (Take 4 Breakdown Take)" – 0:13
 - "Leap Frog (Take 3 Breakdown Take)" – 0:41
 
Personnel
Musicians
- Charlie Parker - saxophone (Complete Album)
 - Dizzy Gillespie - trumpet (except tracks A4 & B4)
 - Curley Russell - bass (except on tracks A4 & B4)
 - Buddy Rich - drums (except tracks A4 & B4)
 - Thelonious Monk - piano (except tracks A4 & B4)
 - Tommy Potter - bass (on tracks A4 & B4)
 - Carlos Vidal - bongo (on track B4)
 - Max Roach - drums (tracks A4 & B4)
 - Al Haig - piano (tracks A4 & B4)
 - Tommy Turk - trombone (track B4)
 - Kenny Dorham - trumpet (tracks A4 & B4)
 
Production
- Norman Granz - producer
 - Dennis Drake - mastering
 - David Stone Martin - cover design
 
References
- Footnotes
 
- ↑ Billboard August 16, 1952
 - 1 2 AllMusic review
 - 1 2 Columnist. "Review of Bird & Diz". DownBeat: March 1952.
 - ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 416.
 - ↑ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 1018.
 - ↑ Swenson, John, ed. (1999). The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide. Random House. p. 529.
 - 1 2 Patrick, James (1997), pp. 1–3.
 - ↑ 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.
 - ↑ Chell, Samuel. Review of Bird & Diz. All About Jazz. Retrieved on 2009-06-22.
 - ↑ Clef Records Catalog - The Jazz Scene, JATP, 100, 500 series: MGC 512 Bird And Diz. Jazz Discography Project. Retrieved on 2009-06-22.
 - 1 2 Patrick, James (1997), pp. 5–6.
 
- Bibliography
 
- Personnel/recorded date/master numbers confirmed with the Ruppli's discography.
Michel Ruppli, Ed Novitsky (1993). The Mercury Labels — A Discography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-27371-5. - Bird and Diz album liner notes by James Patrick, Norman Granz. PolyGram Records Inc.
 
External links
- Bird and Diz at Discogs (list of releases)
 

