Jimmy Heath at the Charlie Parker Festival.

[Hardbopjazz]

He will debut a new piece of music which he was commissioned to write called, “The Bird is the Word”.

I believe Frank Morgan will be at the Sunday show.

[relyles]

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival 2004

IN ITS 12th YEAR!:

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Marcus Garvey Park

Jimmy Heath

Donald Harrison

Vanessa Rubin

Rachel Z

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Tompkins Square Park

Jimmy Heath

Frank Morgan

Kenny Garrett

Teri Lynne Carrington

Showtime on both days: 3 to 7pm

The achievements of Charlie Parker and his contemporaries in transforming swing and forging the post-World War II modern jazz idiom of bop are often under-exposed today. The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival encourages appreciation of this seminal American artist through a lineup of some of the biggest names in jazz today, right in the neighborhoods close to where Parker lived and worked.

City Parks Foundation is proud to present The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival under its auspices since 2003.

Edited August 17, 2004 by relyles

[sheldonm]

Man, I wish I could make it .

[relyles]

Every now and then I need a fulfilling live music experience to restore the thrill of the music for me. Music is part of my life from the moment I wake up in the morning until I go to bed at night. Despite the vast amount of music I am constantly exposed to, not much of it captivates my attention and recently I have not felt the same passion about the music as in the past. Sunday at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park was one of those days that reminded me why it is I love this music so much.

Despite arriving later than expected and therefore being forced to stand for the entire four hours, my father, uncle and I had a day that brought the joy for all of us. When we arrived Terri Lyne Carrington’s group was already playing. She was joined by Gary Thomas on tenor, Gregoire Mairet on harmonica, pianist Mulgrew Miller and bass player Scott Colley. Carrington’s set focused on original music and overall it was a satisfying set. Thomas is a little stiff to watch, but his playing was much stronger than the last time I saw him with Herbie Hancock. Miller, as always, was impressive and Carrington was her usual musical self as she led the group from the drums.

After Carrington was Frank Morgan’s quartet with John Hicks, Curtis Lundy and drummer Billy Hart. Of the four groups, Frank Morgan was the only one I had never heard live before. Morgan played a set of all standards – primarily tunes from the bebop era (such as “Round Midnight” “A Night in Tunisia”) and a terrific rendition of Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints”. Morgan sat while he played and I suspect he does not have the same wind that he may have back in the day. Instead of trying to overwhelm us with his Bird influenced technique, he focused on his sound to convey a feeling and gave a lot of space to the other members of his band – in particular John Hicks who was all over the piano.

The energy level increased exponentially when Jimmy Heath’s group hit the stage. The City Parks Foundation, which is the current presenter of the festival, commissioned Heath to write a composition dedicated to Charlie Parker titled “Bird is the Word”. Although enjoyable the composition itself was not the focus of the set. It had sections which varied between the bop language, blues, Latin influenced and some other things which are reminiscent of Heath’s writing. Interesting tunes, but they primarily served as a launching pad for incredible soloing by Heath’s hot young band that included Antonio Hart, trumpeter Sean Jones, a trombone player whose first name is Vincent (did not hear his last name), Jeb Patton on piano, Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass and the always energetic Winard Harper on drums. The stars of the set were Hart and Jones who seemed to be competing with each other to see who could get the most energetic audience reaction following each of their solos. The trombonist was not nearly as animated as Hart or Jones and did not get the same response from the audience, but he was very impressive. I think what made Heath’s group so enjoyable was that the members of the band were obviously enjoying themselves and playing from the heart. Each member had a big cheesy grin on their face from the moment they started playing and seemed to enjoy the playing of the other band members as much as, if not more than the audience. Great!

Kenny Garrett’s quartet was the final act and I think they did an abbreviated set because things were a little behind schedule. Not to worry, in the short thirty or so minutes they played, they blew hard and with passion. Garrett may be one of the most soulful saxophonists around. He has a monster technique, but he does not seem to rely on it much. Instead, he plays with the passion of someone who thinks this every time he puts the saxophone in his mouth could be his last. The young band playing with him, pianist Carlos McKinney, Chris Funn on bass and Ronald Brunner on drums matched his energy level throughout. They ended the set with an extended workout on what is their theme song, Garrett’s “Happy People” and by the time they finished with what may have been their fifth false ending everyone in the park was on their feet clapping and yelling their approval.

It may sound cliché, but maybe the spirit of Bird was in the air. A great day of music. Thank you Mr. Parker.

[Free For All]

Heath’s hot young band that included Antonio Hart, trumpeter Sean Jones, a trombone player whose first name is Vincent (did not hear his last name), Jeb Patton on piano, Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass and the always energetic Winard Harper on drums. 

Sounds like it was a good hang!

Sean Jones is the real deal. I think we'll be hearing a lot from him in the near future. Just a guess, but the 'bone player might have been Vincent Gardner.

[relyles]

Just a guess, but the 'bone player might have been Vincent Gardner.

That may have been his name. Too much applause the one time the band was introduced for me to hear it clearly.

[Hardbopjazz]

Just a guess, but the 'bone player might have been Vincent Gardner.

That may have been his name. Too much applause the one time the band was introduced for me to hear it clearly.

Yes, that's who it was. I was up front and did get to hear his name.

Great shows.

[Hardbopjazz]

One more note, Heath's composition, was very powerful. I would highly recommend this when it gets released.