This swinging take on Charlie Parker's bebop classic features three extended solos from tenor saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, pianist David Meder, and bassist Barry Stephenson. Parker composed the tune as a contrafact built on the chord changes of Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose," and its AABA form and accessible melody have made it a staple of jam sessions and jazz education alike. Lefkowitz-Brown opens the solo section with two choruses of tenor saxophone, weaving through Parker's changes at a comfortable medium-up tempo around 185 beats per minute. Meder follows with his own two-chorus exploration on piano before Stephenson takes the rare spotlight with a two-chorus acoustic bass solo — an uncommon feature that gives the arrangement a dimension many versions of this tune lack. The 2017 recording is part of Lefkowitz-Brown's Standard Sessions series, which pairs him with different rhythm sections across a collection of well-known standards. Here the trio of soloists demonstrates the tune's versatility as a vehicle for improvisation, each bringing a distinct voice to the same set of changes while the rhythm section keeps a steady, propulsive swing feel throughout.
