MOG Editorial Review

Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker collaborating on an album together is the modern equivalent of Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jack White doing the same. Two jazz giants of their era, Bird and Diz is a seminal piece of bebop jazz. Composed entirely by Parker, Bird and Diz also features early work from Thelonius Monk on piano and Buddy Rich on drums. Together, the all-star group run through a set of upbeat tracks complete with impassioned solos and ear-pleasing melodies in between, all of it held down by Gillespie's trumpet. The fluidity of Parker's rapid fire solos are especially impressive, leaving you to wonder what would have happened had he not died at age 35.