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Bright Moments

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about 2 months ago i finally saw the eastwood movie "Bird."

i have seen various comments about how inaccurate the movie was, how "charlie didn't hold his horn that way" etc.

since seeing the movie i went on a bird reading spree, which continues to date.

remember that the scene in the movie, where a young charlie is going to a "cutting contest" and when he is about play the drummer tosses a cymbal which crashes to the floor. an embarrassed charlie, having been "gonged" rushes off the stage! well, i recently learned (to my surprise) that this actually occurred! here's the quiz:

can you name the drummer who threw the cymbal?

B-)

Edited by Bright Moments
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I can't confirm if this is true, but I have no reason to believe it's not.

When I was living in Austin (late 80s) I had the opportunity to hang and play with the great bassist Gene Ramey who claimed to have played on the very session where Papa Jo tossed the cymbal.

At that time (late 80s), Mr. Ramey had been living in "retirement" in Austin, but was coerced to come out and play by some local musicians. What a treasure of stories and knowledge he was!

Perhaps one of our resident historical experts could confirm or debunk this story. Mr. Ramey was not one given to fabricating tales, so I'm inclined to believe him until proven otherwise.

Edited by Free For All
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was charlie's son named "baird" or "laird"? i've seen references to both names.

what ever happened to him?

His full name was Charles Baird Parker. He once sent a letter to Down Beat setting the record straight.

Don't know what happened to him, but Bird's oldest son Leon, born in Kansas City, was a barber, and passed away within the last couple of years.

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Perhaps one of our resident historical experts could confirm or debunk this story. Mr. Ramey was not one given to fabricating tales, so I'm inclined to believe him until proven otherwise.

In an interview with François Postif that was published in the March 1962 issue of Jazz Hot, Gene Ramey recounts the incident. He mentions that the full Basie band was playing at the Reno club that night and nobody dared to join and jam. Bird had been standing near the bandstand for a while. Ramey says that he took out his saxophone which was in a wrapping bag and started to play. Ensemble playing went OK but when his turn came to solo, everything went wrong. Jo Jones decided he had heard enough, took off one of his cymbal and threw it above Parker's head. It crashed noisefully on the floor. A confused Parker stopped playing and cleared away.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Two JATP concerts were recorded and issued. WKCR-FM is sure to play these on the day between Young and Parker's birthdays.

Mike

were the JATP's the first (and only) times bird played with prez? i am curious about how they first played together. whether bird was still in awe of his idol or if some of prez's luster had faded.

by all accounts prez was a tough one to cozy up to, i would imagine it was especially hard for bird to get close to him seeing as how his star was rising while prez was on the downslide!

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Charlie Parker and Lester Young appear together on three of the JATP concerts:

- January 28, 1946 in LA

- April 22, 1946 in LA

- September 18, 1949 at Carnegie Hall

All three concerts were included in the Verve 10CD Bird box and in the Verve 10CD JATP 1944-1949 box.

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Diz and Bird met in 1941 when Gillespie came through Kansas City with the Cab Calloway Orchestra. Parker was with Jay McShann's band at the time. Fellow McShann musicians Buddy Anderson and Orville Minor introduced Gillespie to Parker.

Diz and Bird were together from December 1942 when they both were in Earl Hines's band. The two were with Hines for several months. A tragedy that the Hines aggregation was never recorded during their association because of the record ban.

About their friendship, Gillespie is quoted in Bob Reisner's book 'Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker':

'We were always frends. Sometimes I would beat his brain out in chess, but there was never any real ill feeling between us. Whenever we met we used to kiss on the mouth. People want to believe there was animosity. The press likes it. It makes good copy...

...The last timeI saw him was shortly before I left for Europe. We were sitting in Basin Street. He spoke about us getting together again. He said it in a way that implied ''... before it's too late''. Unfortunately, it was already too late. If it had happened, it would have been the greatest.'

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