Parker's Mood
"Parker's Mood" is a piece of music originally performed by Charlie Parker as an improvised blues in 1948. Vocalese lyrics were later written and recorded by King Pleasure and Eddie Jefferson.
Original recording
Alto saxophonist Charlie Parker recorded "Parker's Mood" in New York City on September 18, 1948. The other musicians for the Savoy Records session were pianist John Lewis, bassist Curley Russell, and drummer Max Roach. There were five takes: two false starts and three complete takes. The complete takes were improvised spontaneously, with the probable exception of the opening two bars, which are the same on each take. Parker "varies the phrasing and motivic relatedness of the opening melodic idea in each take". The tempo across the takes varies from 65 quarter notes to 87."Parker's Mood" is a B blues. "The introduction begins on G minor The feature then proceeds to C minor, which suggests i–iv in G minor." Then, from the third bar, "the rhythm section begin a four-bar chord progression that establishes B major through a tritone substitution of each chord of a vi–ii–V progression with major-seventh chords as the vi substitute and the ii substitute ".
The piece was copyrighted on November 15, 1948.