Yardbird Suite is a bebop jazz standard written by Charlie Parker in 1946. The title combines Parker’s nickname Yardbird (Bird) with the classical music term suite. It is built on a 32-bar AABA form and is known for its graceful, hip melody that became an anthem for beboppers. Parker made three known commercial recordings of the tune—two with a septet at Radio Recorders in Hollywood on March 28, 1946 for Dial Records, featuring Miles Davis on trumpet, Lucky Thompson, Dodo Marmarosa, Arvin Garrison, Vic McMillan, and Roy Porter. The last take from that session became the master and was released as a 78 rpm single (Dial D 1003). The track was never copyrighted and later appeared on various 10-inch EPs and 12-inch LPs, usually with Parker’s other Dial recordings or on Miles Davis related albums. A third Parker recording, from February 1, 1947 at Chuck Copely’s home, was incomplete but issued on Spotlite in 1972. Yardbird Suite has been performed and interpreted by many artists, including live Parker performances and later tributes by Gil Evans with Claude Thornhill in 1947, as well as numerous bebop and hard bop versions. The 1946 Parker Septet master was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
