Ballade is an instrumental jazz ballad, played slowly, with no lyrics. It is credited to Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker as composers. The original recording, credited to Coleman Hawkins with Charlie Parker, was made on 21 December 1950 in New York for Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series. The front line is tenor saxophone and alto saxophone, and the session band included Hank Jones on piano, Ray Brown on bass and Buddy Rich on drums. The track lasts 2:55.
The recording later appeared on several Verve compilations, including the 1988 box set Bird (The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve). The piece is a compact example of the jazz ballad form, carried by the two saxophones over the rhythm section.
