song: Bird of Paradise (Take 1) / All the Things You Are
artist: The Charlie Parker Quintet
recorded: WOR Studios, New York City (October 28, 1947)
writers: Music by Jerome Kern / Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (1939)

alto saxophone: Charlie Parker
trumpet: Miles Davis
double bass: Tommy Potter

(piano: Duke Jordan)
(drums: Max Roach)

This is a note-for-note transcription of the saxophone, trumpet, and double bass part on “Bird of Paradise (Take 1)”, all transposed to the keys of the respective instruments. Included is also a treble score.

Charlie Parker recorded several versions of this tune: one in 1945 as a member of Dizzy Gillespie’s band and subsequently at least three versions with constellations in his own name. This particular version was recorded by the Charlie Parker Quintet in 1947, numbered as “Take 1” or “Take A”, and it is the version where he plays most of the melody of “All the Things You Are”. This is, indeed, the great Jazz standard in disguise: The quintet used their nickname, “Bird of Paradise”, supposedly, as they seized the creative freedom to re-arrange it according to their jazzy vision. This song name is of course also a pun on Charlie Parker’s nickname, “Bird”, and one of numerous bird-themed puns in his catalogue. Enjoy!