Complete Charlie Parker on Dial is a 1996 box set release of jazz saxophonist and composer Charlie Parker's 1946–47 recordings for Dial Records. The box set, released by Jazz Classics, features 89 songs, including alternate takes and notes composed by jazz historian and Parker biographer Ira Gitler. John Genarri, author of the book Blowin' Hot and Cool: Jazz and Its Critics singles out the recording of "Lover Man" on this album, noting that "[t]his wrenching, anguished version...has been called Parker's most poetic statement on record" though, says Gennari, Parker himself viewed it as substandard and threatened physical violence against Ross Russell, a Dial records producer, for including it. Gennari also indicates that other tracks included on this CD—"Relaxin' at Camarillo", "Cheers", "Stupendous" and "Carvin' the Bird"—"have struck many listeners as his most joyous and optimistic."

Recording history

Recording during Parker's tenure with Dial Records between March 28, 1946, and December 17, 1947, these 89 songs have been released multiple times. Spotlite Records in Britain released them in a series of vinyl volumes entitled Charlie Parker on Dial in the 1970s and re-released them on CD in a box set in 1993. They were released in a box set in 2004 by Stash Records. This 1996 box set groups takes and sessions together to allow listeners to closely compare the progression of the material as Parker and his fellow musicians developed it, with jazz improvisation morphing covered material as well as Parker's own compositions into different songs.

Track listing

Except where otherwise noted, all songs composed by Charlie Parker.

Disc 1

Disc 2

Disc 3

Disc 4

Personnel

Performance

Production