2009-06-29 -- 5/5:: never enough bird!
just fantastic, got this on the lightning deal, always new charlie was great, just never fully got it, my favorite jazz players(sun ra, roland kirk, charles mingus, duke ellington) have always had a more lyrical style, the simple basic chants and move music. so with this collection, i am growing and appreciating jazz on a complete different level. the rythym, tempo aned style, not to mention all the players(dizzy, miles,max roach) its overwhelming to me, and birds sax is just fantastic, perfect journeys. his playing is so intense, i never really know if his solos are ending or begining, or if they have a solo at all, five stars for the the music, five stars for the education.

2008-09-05 -- 5/5:: Jazz history through one of the greatest collections of jazz music ever
For the longest time, I had a big hole in my jazz music collection because I didn't have even one CD of Charlie Parker's music. I simply couldn't figure out where to start. After much research and hemming and hawing, I settled on this set. The The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition (Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings) lists the Dial sessions as part of its core collection, but my experience with buying jazz music has always been that more is better, and I was proven right in purchasing this set. I have to say, this is one of the most satisfying sets of music that I own, ranking right up there in listenability and completeness with The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books. The diversity of styles, the lift-off of be-bop, and a cavalcade of jazz superstars including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, J.J. Johnson, and more, are all here in this 8-CD set. The thoroughness of this collection is almost overwhelming in its depth and breadth. Some people could probably do with a condensed version of just the master takes, but the alternate takes, false starts, and incomplete takes are really what make this collection so fascinating. (And it is easy enough to push the skip button on the CD player if you don't want to hear the extras.) Really, I knew that Charlie Parker was good and that his music was a must have, but I had no idea how good he was until I got this set. The eight CD's come with a thick little CD-sized booklet that is chock full of interesting information about the songs, the sessions, and the process of assembling this collection, making for an interesting piece of jazz music history in its own right. Some of the recordings are a little rough due to the non-existence of a better tape or acetate to work with, but ultimately, the music rules all and more than compensates for the few tracks that are not high fidelity. Honestly, I don't see how any serious fan of jazz music could be without this collection.

2005-08-25 -- 4/5:: Perfect music, but absolutely poor packaging.
I love music from Savoy and Dial labels.
Sound on this box is for me very good, but session with Dizzy Gillespie (February 28,1945)has more worse sound as Definitive box set.
Packaging on this set is worst I ever seen.
I have problems with defective disc 4 too, but Savoyjazz send me correct version (on savoyjazz is address) without problems.

2004-07-29 -- 4/5:: Great Music, Poor Packaging, and a Defective Disc
The music on this set is truly excellent, and for the most part the remastered sound is a noticeable improvement over previous CD releases of this material. The many alternative takes make for very interesting comparative listening, and quite a few of them are as good as or even better than the respective master takes (often Parker's solo is more interesting on one of the alternative takes, while the master offers a more polished performance by the band as a whole). If judging the music alone, I would certainly give the set five stars.

Unfortunately, there are some problems with the way Savoy has presented this music. The discs are packaged in cardboard sleeves attached to a spiral binder, and the sleeves are so tight that it is very difficult to remove the discs from them. To avoid scratching the discs, it would be best to take them out of the binder and store them in plastic jewel cases. Additionally, in the accompanying booklet, the track information is incorrect for a number of tracks on discs seven and eight. As of this writing, you can get a corrected track listing by contacting Savoy at inquiries@savoyjazz.com.

A more serious problem is that at least some copies of the set are still being sold with a defective version of disc four, on which most of the tracks are recorded about 10% too fast. If you already have the set, you can determine whether your copy of disc four is defective by checking the timing of the master take of "Donna Lee" (track 13): if the timing is 2:35, you have the pitch-corrected disc, but if it is 2:22, you have the defective disc and need to get a replacement. As of this writing, you can do that by contacting Savoy at inquiries@savoyjazz.com; after asking you a question to verify that you have the defective disc, they will send you a replacement. (At least one other Amazon reviewer reports that Savoy ignored his requests for a replacement disc, but I did not encounter this problem when I contacted them after purchasing the set in February 2004).

Those who don't want to spend quite so much money, or who don't want to go to quite so much trouble to correct Savoy's mistakes, should consider purchasing the three-disc "Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes" (ASIN B00006H6A6). Though far less comprehensive than the "Complete Studio Sessions," it's a great value and provides an excellent overview of some of Parker's best recordings.