RECORD REVIEW : For This Parker Purist, Now Is Indeed the Time

“Bird” (the original motion picture sound track): CBS.

I’ll state it straight out: I was prepared to thoroughly dislike this album before I heard it. The recorded works of Charlie Parker are among the most profound documents of contemporary jazz. Revising them in any way is, to the serious jazz fan, at least as potentially distressing as the colorization of “Casablanca” is to a film buff.

But, surprise! Lennie Niehaus’ remarkable technical achievement casts a fascinating new light on the work of a man who was one of the 20th Century’s great creative giants.

Parker’s rhythmic and harmonic ideas were so beyond the mainstream of his time that he rarely had the opportunity to play with performers who were fully in touch with him. By surrounding Parker’s solos with the accompaniment of musicians who--40 years later--are well versed in the advances wrought by his efforts, Niehaus has given Parker’s music a setting that finally matches and enhances his startling creativity.

“Now’s the Time,” for example, includes a classic Parker blues chorus. But this version (in which Bird is accompanied by the vibrant rhythm team of Monty Alexander on piano, Ray Brown on bass and John Guerin on drums) springs to life, energized by an underpinning that grooves with an insistent energy that was always there, but never before so apparent, in Parker’s solo.

The same is true elswhere: the magnificent solo in “Parker’s Mood” now reveals the gospel blues inflections which are in its heart; “Ko Ko,” a great improvisation on the changes of “Cherokee” is less isolated, supported at last by a rhythm foundation that can handle Bird’s innovative flight.

Two recordings from Parker’s sessions with string ensembles--”Laura” and “April in Paris”--have been provided with larger orchestras by Niehaus. Bird’s ability to ornament his velvet-toned melodies with gorgeous improvisation suggests that his desire to reach a larger audience via such recordings may have been a better idea than anyone else at that time seemed to think.

The balance of the tracks trace to concert tapes, air checks and--in the case of “All of Me” and “I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love With Me”--a home recording made with Lennie Tristano and Kenny Clarke. While these originals were not part of the familiar Parker catalogue, their enhancement is equally impressive.

One final note of caution: “Bird” should be viewed as a supplement to and not a replacement for the original Parker recordings. Any serious jazz collection should contain both versions.