Donna Lee, recorded May 8, 1947, is a landmark bebop composition credited to Miles Davis, though many scholars believe it was actually written by Charlie Parker. Based on the chord changes of Indiana with a 32-bar AB form, the tune is performed by the Charlie Parker Quintet at approximately 226 BPM in the key of A-flat. Parker's dazzling two-chorus alto saxophone solo navigates the demanding, chromatically dense melody and its underlying harmony with breathtaking fluency. Davis follows with a half-chorus trumpet solo, and Bud Powell contributes a half-chorus on piano. The Donna Lee melody itself is one of the most technically demanding heads in the bebop repertoire, requiring precise execution of rapid chromatic passages. This May 1947 Savoy session was one of the first to feature the Parker-Davis-Powell combination, assembling three of the most important voices in modern jazz. The recording has become a standard test piece for jazz musicians and is one of the most frequently performed compositions from the bebop era.
