Charlie Parker - Bewitching Bird: Bird At Café Society and The Sky Bar LP (RSD - Black Friday 2026)

Two performances from the iconic saxophonist. Side one features five tracks recorded in 1950 at the legendary Greenwich Village club, Café Society. Featured on the set is a ten-minute medley of four evergreen standards with an all-star band - trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist Al Haig, bassist Tommy Potter and drummer Roy Haynes. Two tracks are very rare cuts. Parker had never recorded “I Cover The Waterfront” and the version of “Bewitched” hadn’t ever been officially released on any Bird album. The final track “Lover Come Back To Me” was recorded on a different date with pianist Dick Hyman, guitarist Mundell Lowe, bassist Irv Land and drummer Irv Kluger. Side two contains real “stop-the-presses stuff”: rare live Bird, never before issued and from a period when no other recordings survive, recorded at the Sky Bar in Cleveland, Ohio, in May 1951. Features band members drummer Roy Haynes, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, pianist Walter Bishop Jr. and bassist Teddy Kotick. These sides have never been available or heard in any capacity. They are the stuff that ornithologists’ "dreams are made of”—not only for their rarity, but for their quality. Package includes rare photos and detailed liner notes. Set is pressed on 180-gram vinyl.

Released for Record Store Day, Black Friday 2026. Available in the shop Friday 27th November. Online sales start 8am Saturday 28th November.

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