Following its sold-out release for Record Store Day Black Friday in 2021, Charlie Parker's Bird in LA is returning to vinyl in a general release from Verve/UMe tomorrow, May 19.  On the same day, it will be released to streaming and digital services.  This collection of the legendary saxophonist's historic first three trips to Los Angeles remains available in the CD format, as well.

Kansas City, Missouri native Parker (1920-1955) was a key player in the development of bop, and while he's closely associated with the New York jazz scene, he made many of his most significant recordings in the City of Angels.  His first three trips there are collected on Bird in LA, encompassing 28 tracks recorded between 1945 and 1952.  They're all assembled in chronological order across 4 black vinyl LPs on the upcoming box set.

In December 1945, Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) brought their East Coast bebop sound to the West Coast for a two-month stint in Hollywood at Billy Berg's Supper Club.  By this point, their reputation preceded them, and the event was billed as "Bebop Invades the West."  While in town for the residency, Parker performed at a Jazz at the Philharmonic show and cut sides for the fledgling Dial label.  Though a hospital stay precipitated by his heroin addiction threatened to cut his time in LA - and life - short, he returned to work following his January 1947 release.  He played an acclaimed two-week engagement at the Hi-De-Ho Club before returning home to New York City.  He would make four more trips to Los Angeles including in November 1948 for a JATP performance and again each year between 1952 and 1954.

The box set is chockablock with rarities and once-private recordings.  It opens with the surviving excerpts from Parker's December 17, 1945 gig at Billy Berg's with Gillespie, and continues with NBC radio performances, a 1946 show at the Little Tokyo Club, JATP recordings, and parties at Jirayr Zorthian's Ranch in Altadena.  (Legend has it that the party of July 14, 1952 found Parker, his bandmates, and the partygoers stripping off their clothes; the incident is one of many documented in Z2 Comics' graphic novel Chasin' the Bird, also available now.)  In addition to Gillespie, Parker is heard alongside such luminaries as Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, Miles Davis, Benny Carter, Nat "King" Cole, Chet Baker, and Buddy Rich.

Charlie Parker's Bird in LA arrives on vinyl and to digital/streaming services from Verve and UMe tomorrow, May 19.  You'll find order links and the track listing below.

Charlie Parker, Bird in LA (Verve/UMe, 2023) (Charlie Parker Official Shop / uDiscoverMusic.com)

LP 1

Side A

December 17, 1945

Billy Berg's Supper Club, Hollywood, California

Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra Featuring Charlie Parker

Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, tpt, Charlie Parker, as, Milt Jackson, vb, Al Haig, pno, Ray Brown, bs, Stan Levey, dr, except 2, Harry "The Hipster" Gibson, pno and vocal, Slim Gaillard, MC, Billy Berg, closing announcement

1. Intro over I Waited for You into How High the Moon (incomplete) 4:11
2. Intro dialogue with Gibson into Handsome Harry the Hipster (incomplete) (no Parker) 4:15
3. Cement Mixer (fragment) into Intro into Blues (fragment) 1:20
4. Dizzy Atmosphere (fragment) (no Parker improvisation) 1:04
5. Fifty-Second Street Theme into closing announcement 1:53

Possibly December 10, 17, or 29, 1945

AFRS "Jubilee," NBC Studios, Hollywood, California

Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra Featuring Charlie Parker

Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, tpt, Charlie Parker, as, Al Haig, pno, Ray Brown, bs, Stan Levey, dr, Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, MC

6. Groovin' High into announcement 5:47

Side B

1. Intro dialogue with Gillespie into Shaw 'Nuff into announcement 4:51
2. Intro dialogue with Gillespie into Dizzy Atmosphere into announcement 4:36

January 24, 1946

"Drene Time" NBC Studios, Hollywood, California

Dizzy Gillespie Septet

Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, tpt and voc, Charlie Parker, as, Lucky Thompson, ts, Milt Jackson, vb, Al Haig, pno, Ray Brown, bs, Stan Levey, dr, Rudy Vallee and Harry "The Hipster" Gibson MCs

3. Intro dialogue between Vallee and Gibson into Salt Peanuts 3:40

LP 2

Side A

Mid-March 1946

The Finale Club, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California

Charlie Parker Quintet

Personnel: Charlie Parker, as, Miles Davis, tpt, Joe Albany, pno, Addison Farmer, bs, Chuck Thompson, dr, unknown MC

1. Billie's Bounce 3:45
2. Ornithology 5:04
3. All the Things You Are 5:13
4. Blue 'n' Boogie 5:15

Side B

1. Anthropology into announcement 2:51

Probably March or April 1946

AFRS "Jubilee," NBC Studios,  Hollywood, California

Personnel: Charlie Parker, Benny Carter and Willie Smith, as, Nat "King" Cole, pno, Oscar Moore, g, Johnny Miller, bs, Buddy Rich, dr, Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, MC.

2. Intro discussion into Cherokee into announcement 4:22

November 22, 1948

Jazz At the Philharmonic, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California

Personnel: Charlie Parker, as, Al Haig, pno, Tommy Potter, bs, J.C. Heard, dr

3. Ornithology 4:11
4. Dizzy Atmosphere 5:39
5. Out of Nowhere 3:35

LP 3

Side A

July 14, 1952

Party at Jirayr Zorthian's Ranch, top of Fair Oaks Avenue, Altadena, California

Personnel: Charlie Parker and Frank Morgan, as, Don Wilkerson, ts, Amos Trice, pno, David Bailey, bs, Larance Marable, dr

1. Scrapple from the Apple (incomplete) [Soloists: CP, DW, FM, AT; CP, DW and FM exchange fours] 5:44
2. Au Privave/Dance of the Infidels [Soloists: CP, DW, FM, AT; CP, DW and FM exchange fours] 13:11

Side B

1. Night in Tunisia [Soloists: CP, DW, FM, AT] 7:33
2. How High the Moon/Ornithology [Soloists: CP, DW, FM, AT, CP, DW] 7:31
3. Party Chatter into Embraceable You [Soloist: CP] 3:45

LP 4

Side A

1. Hot House [Soloists: CP, DW, FM, CP exchanges with LM] 7:07
2. Cool Blues [Soloists: CP, FM, DW, CP and FM exchange choruses, DW, FM] 12:15

Side B

1. March Noodling/Dixie 4:12

Probably July 28, 1952 at Zorthian's Ranch

Personnel: Same as above, but add Chet Baker, tpt

2. Scrapple from the Apple [Soloists: FM, DW, CP, CB, AT, DB, CP exchanges with LM] 13:14

Probably July 1952, Unknown Location, Los Angeles, California

Personnel: Probably same as above, but omit Don Wilkerson and Chet Baker

3. Au Privave (incomplete) [Soloists: CP, FM] 4:2