Carvin' The Bird

"Carvin' The Bird" is a bebop composition by trumpeter Howard McGhee, recorded in 1947 during a productive Dial Records session in Hollywood. The tune was cut on February 26, 1947, by the Charlie Parker All-Stars, featuring Charlie Parker on alto saxophone, McGhee on trumpet, Wardell Gray on tenor saxophone, Dodo Marmarosa on piano, Barney Kessel on guitar, Red Callender on bass, and Don Lamond on drums. Charlie Parker also receives a songwriter credit on some editions. The piece was originally released on 78 RPM as a two-sided single paired with McGhee's "Cheers." McGhee composed the tune during his most prolific period as a bebop trumpeter and composer on the West Coast, where he had become a leading musician in the Los Angeles bebop scene, participating in concerts, recordings, and even briefly managing a nightclub. His other compositions from this era include "McGhee Special," "Night Mist," "Midnight at Mintons," and "Dorothy," reflecting his dual identity as both an accomplished composer-arranger and a virtuoso performer. McGhee had joined the Coleman Hawkins combo in 1945 and spent the next two years on the West Coast, recording on Parker's sessions for both the troubled "Lover Man" date in 1946 and this far more successful 1947 session. "Carvin' The Bird" has been preserved through various Charlie Parker compilations and reissues, including a 2014 remastered edition, though it remains a deep cut in the bebop catalog rather than a widely covered standard.