Charlie Parker - Charlie Parker With Strings (Giants of Jazz) (1996)

When producer Norman Granz decided to let Charlie Parker record standards with a full string section (featuring Mitch Miller on oboe!), the purists cried sellout, but nothing could be further from the truth. There's a real sense of involvement from Bird on these sides, which collect up all the master takes and also include some live tracks from Carnegie Hall that - judging from the sometimes uneasy murmurings of the crowd - amply illustrate just how weirdly this mixture of bop lines against "legit" arrangements was perceived. The music on this collection is lush, poetic, romantic as hell, and the perfect antidote to a surfeit of jazz records featuring undisciplined blowing. There's a lot of jazz, but there's only one Bird.

Tracklist:

01. Just friends
02. Everything happens to me
03. April in Paris
04. Summertime
05. I didn't know what time it was
06. If I should loose you
07. Dancing in the dark
08. I came along
09. Laura
10. East of the sun (West of the moon)
11. They can't take that away from me
12. Easy to love
13. I'm in the mood for love
14. I'll remember april
15. What's this thing called love
16. April in Paris
17. Repitition
18. Easy to love (Carnegie hall
19. Rocker
20. Temptation (Freed - Brown)
21. Lover
22. Autoumn in New York
23. Stella by starlight