The Resurrection of Charles Parker
Great to see that Bird is playing in LA this December 15 (2010)
Total Tracks: 13 Total Length: 70:02
Great to see that Bird is playing in LA this December 15 (2010)
Don Cherry began to make his mark with his first recording session, on February 10, 1958, as foil for freebopping alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman on music recorded for Something Else! Their bebop forebears Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker favored rough-sounding unison melodies, a departure from the swing era's smooth blends, but the Coleman-Cherry mix was scrappier still. As soloist, Don took cues from how Ornette's solos didn't track a tune's harmonies too closely. They didn't… more »
In Chicago, they all but carry him around in a sedan chair: Von Freeman, the tenor saxophonist who's educated umpteen young musicians on the bandstand. In 2002, the city named a stretch of E. 75th Street after him, down by the New Apartment Lounge where he's led Tuesday night jams for decades. Among the folks who came out for the ceremony were jazz guru Steve Coleman, who'd flown in just to honor one of his… more »
Our story starts in Pennsylvania coal country, 1962. Jazz singer Sheila Jordan had taken her new friend George Russell to visit the hardscrabble hills where she'd spent her early years. At a local beer garden, Jordan performed an impromptu "You Are My Sunshine" with her grandmother on piano. Russell was an ultramodern composer, and the old song as corny as breakfast flakes - but Sheila's version got to him. Back in New York, he arranged… more »
While Virgo is often considered to be the one sign driven by an almost insane desire for perfection and purity, a fair number of the artists that fall under its arc - from August 23rd to September 22nd - can hardly be called Puritanical. A quick check finds Charlie Parker, the archetypal bebop mainliner, shooting junk while deconstructing the songbook of his day in blistering triple-times. Then there's Gene Simmons. While Simmons has eschewed alcohol… more »
A few years ago, Italian saxophonist Daniele D'Agaro was visiting Chicago, and a critic friend put on a fairly obscure record to stump him. D'Agaro listened for about three seconds, said: "Lucky." Good ears. He knows the distinctive sound of Lucky Thompson after he started hanging out in Paris and playing sumptuous tenor saxophone ballads recalling old idol Don Byas's Parisian sides. On "Solitude" and "We'll Be Together Again," from Lucky in Paris 1959, his tenor's… more »
There were many British bands that swiveled rock's glorious adolescence, but for my nascent psychedelia and guitar drool, the Yardbirds have long held the most resonance. The wonder of first hearing the extended rave-up of "I'm A Man;" the Gregorian chants of "Still I'm Sad;" the eastern swami of "Over Under Sideways Down;" the clarion clang of the harpsichord in "For Your Love" forever changed for me how I would hear rock music. I sometimes think… more »
Alert Charlie Parker fans were delighted when this 1996 CD came out for it includes two previously unreleased (and well-recorded) radio broadcasts featuring the masterful altoist. Parker is in fine form during his two appearances at Boston’s Hi Hat. With Symphony Sid as the disc jockey (he gets Bird to say a few words here and there), Parker romps through his usual repertoire, finding something fresh to say on songs that he had already been playing at least five years. Seven selections feature him in 1952 with trumpeter Joe Gordon, pianist Dick Twardzik, bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Roy Haynes, while four others (three are repeated titles from the earlier date) are from 1954 with trumpeter Herbie Williams, pianist Rollins Griffith, bassist Jimmy Woode and drummer Marquis Foster completing the group. Although both trumpeters (particularly Gordon) sound fine, Charlie Parker easily steals the show. The extensive liner notes, which fully discuss all of the engagements that Bird had in Boston throughout his career, are an added plus. – Scott Yanow
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