Literally, the literal side of Charlie Parker is emphasized here by vocalist Roseanna Vitro, as she employs the vocal talents of Sheila Jordan, Marion Coewings and (the late) Bob Dorough to sing the Ornithological songbook.
She is supported by two bopping teams of alto saxists (Gary Bartz/Mark Gross), pianists (Alan Broadbent/Jason Teborek), bassist (Dean Johnson), drummers (Alvester Garnett/Bill Goodwin) and throwing in Paul Myers/g or Mino Cinelu/perc for cameos. All of the tunes are either composed by or associated with Parker, with the lyrics composed through the years by the likes of Jon Hendricks, Sheila Jordan, King Pleasure, Bird and Dorough himself.
The result is a joyful celebration, with Dorough’s sandied midwestern drawl working to perfection melding with Vitro on “The Scatter” and rounding the corners over Goodwin’s brushes on “Audubon’s New Bluebird”. Jordan joins in for a joyous trio hand off on the LHR sounding “These Foolish Things” and his hiply harmonious on “Bird’s Song”. Vitro bops with the best on “Yardbird Suite” and bounces to the Latinized “Grapple With The Apple”. After all these decades, bebop is still spoken here, and sounds as fresh as ever.