Yardbird Suite is a bebop standard composed by the alto saxophonist Charlie Parker in 1946. It is written in the 32-bar AABA form typical of jazz. Its title combines Parker's nickname "Yardbird", often shortened to "Bird", with the colloquial use of the classical term "suite", as in Lester Young's "Midnight Symphony" and Duke Ellington's "Ebony Rhapsody". The melody is described as graceful and hip, and the tune became something of an anthem for beboppers.
The first two known commercial recordings were made by a septet at Radio Recorders in Hollywood on 28 March 1946, produced by Ross Russell for Dial Records. The last of four takes became the master, issued as the 78 rpm single Dial D 1003. The 1946 master was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014. Later versions include Gil Evans for Claude Thornhill with Lee Konitz (1947), Gene Krupa with a Gerry Mulligan arrangement (1958), the Modern Jazz Quartet (1958), Frank Morgan (1988), Karrin Allyson (1995) and Joe Lovano's Bird Songs (2010). The tune is instrumental in its original form.
