CD review: Miłosz Konarski – Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova (what if) 2021: Video, CD cover

On April 6, 2021, an album based on an interesting concept will be available for sale. Two Polish musicians inspired by Haruki Murakami’s idea described in one of the stories decided to imagine what Charlie Parker’s album would sound like if this famous jazz musician started playing bossa nova.

Murakami’s latest collection, The First Person Singular, includes the short story Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova. The narrator of the story mentioned how, during his studies, he got the editor-in-chief of a university magazine by writing a review of the non-existent album “Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova” supposedly from 1963. In fact, the musician died eight years earlier, when no one had heard of bossa nova. And the narrator simply made up what such an album could sound like, which caused quite a stir on campus. Years later, he was surprised to discover the CD he had described in a music store. However, he did not have time to buy it and he did not know if someone had made a joke or if he had actually created an unknown work by force of subconsciousness.

If the narrator of Murakami’s story really existed, he would soon be able to hear the album he was writing about, thanks to two Polish musicians who recorded such an album. “Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova (what if)” is an attempt to answer the question asked by the Japanese writer, what could Charlie Parker’s album sound like if he had not died in 1955 as a result of drug and alcohol exhaustion, but after several years of convalescence, he returned to playing for saxophone and in 1963 he released an album with the then popular bosses.

1. A Hortelã-verde (feat. Wojtek Rejdych)
2. Paixão vermelha (feat. Wojtek Rejdych)
3. Violeta aveludada (feat. Wojtek Rejdych)
4. Azul como o mar (feat. Wojtek Rejdych)
5. Lindos olhos castanhos (feat. Wojtek Rejdych)
6. O marfim branco (feat. Wojtek Rejdych)
7. A paz cor de lavanda (feat. Wojtek Rejdych)
8. Felicidade de damasco (feat. Wojtek Rejdych)

Composer, arranger, producer: Miłosz Konarski
Tenor Saxophone: Wojtek Rejdych