South of the Border: The Verve Latin-Jazz Sides

1	Mango Mangue 2:54
2	Okiedoke 3:02
3	No Noise 5:52
4	My Little Suede Shoes 3:04
5	Un Poquito de Tu Amor 2:41
6	Why Do I Love You? 3:06
7	Tico-Tico 2:44
8	Fiesta 2:49
9	La Cucaracha 2:43
10	Mama Inez 2:50
11	Estrellita 2:43
12	La Paloma 2:39
13	Begin the Beguine 3:12
14	Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite: Introduction-Cancion/Mambo/Transition/Introduct 17:14

Barnes & Noble

Charlie Parker didn't have the earthshaking impact on Latin jazz that his old friend Dizzy Gillespie did, but that didn't stop him from getting bit by the Latin-jazz bug. After making several landmark recordings with Machito's Orchestra -- Chico O' Farrill's magnificent 17-minute "Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite," the two-part "No Noise," and two others, all here -- he added bongo player Jose Mangual and conguero Luis Miranda to his band for a pair of exuberant sessions. All the master takes are on this reissue, which finds Bird flying gleefully through a stack of Latin pop hits, including "La Cucuracha," "Estrellita," "La Paloma," "Fiesta," and a wickedly free-spirited version of that old warhorse, "Tico Tico." Roy Haynes and Max Roach, respectively, lock in beautifully with the exuberant hand drummers, who shout and chatter and clearly lift the great Bird skywar. Lee Jeske

All Music Guide

Verve gathers together all of the master takes of Charlie Parker's recordings with the swinging band of Afro-Cuban jazz pioneer Machito, along with ten other Latinized numbers that he cut in 1951-52. Besides illustrating the willingness of producer Norman Granz to experiment and take Parker out of a small-group bebop straitjacket, this CD shows that Bird's improvisational style changed hardly at all in a Latin setting. He continued to run off his patented lightning bop licks over the congas and bongos and they just happened to interlock with the grooves quite snugly, although he did adapt his phrasing of the tunes themselves to suit their rhythmic lines. Included here is the spectacular "No Noise" that he cut as a guest with Machito and tenorman Flip Phillips in 1948, as well as Chico O'Farrill's epic Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite (also with Machito). For those who do not have the 10-CD The Complete Charlie Parker On Verve -- where all 14 selections can be found -- this is an inexpensive way to hear Parker in a refreshingly different context at very nearly the top of his form. Richard S. Ginell