Confirmation is a bebop jazz standard written by Charlie Parker in 1945. It is famous for its long, intricate head and rapid chord changes that cycle through fifths, a hallmark of Parker’s bebop language. The first recording was by Dizzy Gillespie in February 1946 for a Dial session, with Parker not present. Parker’s own studio version, recorded in July 1953 with Al Haig, Percy Heath, and Max Roach, appears on the album Now’s the Time. The tune follows an AABA 32-bar form and is a partial contrafact of Twilight Time (1944), with Parker composing the B section. Critics have praised it as perhaps Parker’s finest display of musical invention, noted for wit and intricacy, and it remains a central bebop standard and teaching piece for modern jazz phrasing—even Thelonious Monk used it as a key exercise in different keys.
