With Charlie Parker under contract, producer Norman Granz recorded him in a variety of contexts, among them putting Bird’s sax in front of a Latin rhythm section. A couple of sessions, from which eight tunes ended up on the 10” LP South of the Border (Mercury MGC-513), featured Bird with small groups including veteran jazz players with the addition of José Mangual on bongos and Luis Miranda on congas. All of the master takes from those dates, along with Bird’s studio recordings with Machito’s big band, have been included on this CD, which also contains several alternate takes from the sessions.

Charlie Parker, alto sax On all tracks, plus:

1-3, 9-10 & 17-18: Walter Bishop, Jr. (p), Teddy Kotick (b), Roy Haynes (d), José Mangual (bongos), Luis Miranda (congas). New York, March 12, 1951.

4-8 & 15-16: Benny Harris (tp), Walter Bishop, Jr. (p), Teddy Kotick (b), Max Roach (d), Luis Miranda (congas), José Mangual (bongos). New York, January 23, 1952.

11-14 & 19: Machito and His Afro Cuban Orchestra. New York, 1948-50.

All original sessions produced by Norman Granz.

1. Tico Tico
2. Un Poquito De Tu Amor
3. My Little Suede Shoes
4. Estrellita
5. Begin the Beguine
6. La Paloma
7. La Cucaracha
8. Mama Inez
9. Why Do I Love You?
10. Fiesta
11. Mango Mangue
12. No Noise
13. Okiedoke
14. Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite
15. Estrellita [Alt Tk]
16. La Cucaracha [Alt Tk]
17. Why Do I Love You? [Alt Tk 1]
18. Why Do I Love You? [Alt Tk 2]
19. No Noise [Alt Tk]