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Charlie Parker: Washington DC, 1948
by David Rickert
Charlie Parker inspired a Grateful Dead-like fervor for taping his live appearances as the steady stream of unreleased concert performances attests. Many of these recordings are of questionable quality though, and this 1948 Washington DC performance is captured on acetate and has as much crackle and hiss as music. The microphone placement never comes close to picking up all the nuances of the blowing. However, the zealous are always willing to overlook these shortcomings as long as the music is ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Parker/Arne Domnerus: In Sweden (Nov. 22, 1950)
by George Kanzler
In today's growingly fractured jazz world, it's hard to fathom how strong was the hegemony of Charlie Parker and bebop over the jazz world in the decade after World War II, especially during the years, like 1950-51, when Parker was actively touring. For proof of bebop's international reach and appeal, this is a prime historical document: a recording from a concert in Malmo, Sweden featuring Parker with local musicians in a typical bebop quintet setting. At least for some of ...
Continue ReadingUnpacking My Bird... A Discovery Most Joyful!
by Raul d'Gama Rose
It is about thirty short strides, from my office in the cellar of my home, to a storeroom, where I keep the boxes-full of CDs that have remained unpacked since I have moved into this town home. But today will be different. I have something more to look forward to. Something I have waited a long time for. So I have decided to descend to the storeroom to re-evaluate an important part of my collection. Now I ...
Continue ReadingJohn Taylor's Jazz Caricatures: Charlie Parker
by John Taylor
About John Taylor For me, art and music flow into a creative confluence. Encouraged by my family to draw and play the drums at an early age, I continue to find expression in these art forms. Motivation for a career in art and music developed in the 1960's as I observed theme park caricaturists at work and listened to recordings of the inimitable Buddy Rich. Gifted editorial caricaturist, David Levine, also influenced my artwork.
Continue ReadingChasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker
by J. Robert Bragonier
Chasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker Brian Priestley Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19--532709-0 2007 Brian Priestley is a recorded jazz pianist and arranger with extensive British jazz-radio experience to boot, and discovering that a biographer is himself a musician tends to impress me. Priestley is also co-author of The Rough Guide To Jazz (now in its fourth edition) and biographer of both bassist Charles Mingus and saxophonist John ...
Continue ReadingMy Life In E-Flat
by Chris May
My Life In E-Flat Chan Parker ISBN 1-57003-245-9 Paperback, 191 pages University Of South Carolina Press 1999
The nearest I ever got to meeting alto saxophone and bebop incendiary Charlie “Bird" Parker was attending an auction of objects once owned by or associated with him. Held in London in 1994 by the international art auctioneers, Christie's, the prize exhibit was the white plastic saxophone played by Parker during his celebrated ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Parker: Bird & Diz
by Samuel Chell
A 1950 recording released on a 10" LP in 1952, this session was conceived by Norman Granz as an opportunity to win for Charlie Parker a larger audience by showcasing him in the company of jazz stars playing “pretty tunes written by good songwriters. But with the exception of “Melancholy Baby" these are exactly the same kinds of bebop heads based on blues and “Rhythm" chord changes that Bird had recorded at Dial and Savoy. What distinguishes the album--apart from ...
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