The Quintets 1945 - 1951 / Collaborations - Bird Meets The Jazz Giants

The history and development of the small Jazz ensemble can be charted by the work of several key groups: Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens, the Kansas City Seven, Benny Goodman's Trios and Quartets, Lennie Tristano's Sextet, Miles Davis' various Quintets and Sextets from the late Fifties to the mid-Sixties, The Jazz Messengers, Gerry Mulligan's piano-less Quartet, Ornette Coleman's group, and the Quartet led by John Coltrane amongst them. Central in this chronology are the Quintets led by Charlie Parker during the saxophonist's most prolific years of 1945-1951.