everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!

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

Personnel: Charlie Parker (alto saxophone); Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet); Thelonious Monk (piano); Curly Russsell (bass); Buddy Rich (drums).

Rappamelo’s favorite track: