Track Listing

1. Bloomdido
2. My Melancholy Baby
3. Relaxin' With Lee
4. Leap Frog
5. An Oscar For Treadwell
6. Mohawk
7. My Melancholy Baby (Complete Take)
8. Relaxin' With Lee (Complete Take)
9. Leap Frog (Complete Take)
10. Leap Frog (Complete Take)
11. Leap Frog (Complete Take)
12. An Oscar For Treadwell (Complete Take)
13. Mohawk (Complete Take)
14. Relaxin' With Lee (Breakdown Take)
15. Relaxin' With Lee (Breakdown Take)
16. Relaxin' With Lee (False Start)
17. Relaxin' With Lee (Breakdown Take)
18. Leap Frog (Breakdown Take)
19. Leap Frog (Breakdown Take)
20. Leap Frog (Breakdown Take)
21. Leap Frog (Breakdown Take)
22. Leap Frog (Breakdown Take)
23. Leap Frog (Breakdown Take)
24. Leap Frog (Breakdown Take)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106656 in Music
• Released on: 1997-07-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com essential recording
This date from June 6, 1950, was an unusual one for Charlie Parker. He chose to play with fellow bop creators Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, in a striking reunion with the trumpeter and the only occasion on which Parker recorded with the pianist. Though the three may have felt encumbered by the presence of swing drummer Buddy Rich, they're in brilliant form, with Parker and Gillespie spurring one another to heights that range from the warm to the electric. Bird's ideas flow with characteristic ease and swing while Gillespie sparks and flares. It's unlikely that anyone else but Gillespie could match Parker on the dazzling interplay of "Leap Frog," a performance supplemented by several alternate takes. Monk's characteristically skewed solos are a rare delight in what is otherwise an orthodox bop setting. The tunes are all Parker's except for "My Melancholy Baby," which inspires witty play. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Two giants
Most folks looking at this CD for purchase are going to know what they are in for. Buy it. It is a classic. Incredible playing from two of the giants of Bebop. It's also amazing to hear Charlie begin solo after jaw dropping solo on the extra tracks of Leap Frog and Relaxin' with Lee. Heads up: the said "studio conversations" on the extra tracks are difficult to make out and scant few. The soloists demonstrate a seemingly endless stream of creativity and drummer, Buddy Rich sparks a unique drive in the ensemble.

great music but the same songs over and over
You would think that any album that has Bird, Diz, Monk, and Buddy Rich would be fantastic to listen to. This one is, but there are only six different songs on it, and then out-takes and variations of those same songs. So in that sense, it was a bit disappointing. If all of the songs were different, then this would get five stars instead of three........

Be Careful You Know What You Are Getting
The music is good (as you would expect), however be very careful. There are 24 tracks on this CD, but there are really only six pieces. Tracks 7-24 are alternate recordings and outtakes of the first six. If this is what you want, fine. But if you are expecting a CD with 24 different songs, this isn't it.