Bird on 52nd St.


Bird on 52nd St. is a live album by the saxophonist Charlie Parker. It was recorded in July 1948 at the Onyx Club on a non-professional tape recorder by trombonist Jimmy Knepper, a fan of Parker who also made the recording released as Bird at St. Nick's. It was first released in 1957 on Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop label as JWS 501. Several tracks are incomplete; Knepper was focused on capturing Parker's solos to conserve audiotape.

Critical reception

AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow wrote that Parker "plays quite brilliantly on this live set", but because of seriously deficient sound quality which "sometimes borders on the unlistenable" the album can be considered as being "for true Charlie Parker completists only."

Track listing

Side A

  1. "52nd Street Theme" – 2:19
  2. "Shaw 'Nuff" – 1:33
  3. "Out of Nowhere" – 3:05
  4. "Hot House" – 2:15
  5. "This Time the Dream's on Me" – 2:21
  6. "A Night in Tunisia" – 3:29
  7. "My Old Flame" – 3:24
  8. "52nd Street Theme" – 1:05

Side B

  1. "The Way You Look Tonight" – 4:42
  2. "Out of Nowhere" – 2:35
  3. "Chasin' the Bird" – 1:47
  4. "This Time the Dreams's on Me" – 3:29
  5. "Dizzy at Atmosphere" – 2:59
  6. "How High the Moon" – 3:38
  7. "52nd Street Theme" – 1:14

Personnel