"Blues for Alice" is a 1951 jazz standard composed by Charlie Parker, who is credited as its sole writer, and the tune has no lyrics. Parker's first recording dates from August 1951, made for Verve with Red Rodney on trumpet, John Lewis on piano, Ray Brown on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. The track was first released on the album The Magnificent Charlie Parker, with Parker on alto saxophone.
The tune is written in F major and usually begins on an F major seventh or F sixth chord. Structurally it is a modified twelve-bar blues in F, with heavy use of the ii-V-I progression and rapid, bebop-style blues chord voicings, and it is a fine example of what is called "Bird Blues". A related variation, known as "Bird changes", is also a twelve-bar blues. Among later versions, Roland Kirk, Supersax, Red Rodney, Anthony Braxton and The Real Group have recorded it, and the tune is listed in The Real Book and The New Real Book.
