Originally issued on Savoy five years after Parker's death as Volume One in their "Jazz Immortal Series," the LP has now been digitally remastered and reissued on CD. The four tunes on AN EVENING AT HOME were, in fact, taped at Parker's apartment in New York at a party/jam session held by the saxophonist. Subsequently, as the liner notes claim, "Savoy had the good fortune of receiving the tapes of this session directly from Charlie Parker, himself." Parker never got around to providing any information about the personnel on his party's bandstand, so such details remain a mystery.
Festivities notwithstanding, the soloists come through loud and clear, and it's a pleasure to hear Bird stretch out on "There's a Small Hotel" without having to operate within the three-minute confines of the recording studio. He's joined by a standard rhythm section of piano, bass and drums, a saxophonist suspected to be Wardell Gray, and a particularly fluent electric guitarist.
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