lester young-charlie parker marathon

[alocispepraluger102]

saturday, sunday, monday on wkcr

http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/

Submitted by Ellen Walkington on Wed, 17 Aug 2011, 1:46pmWKCR will dedicate 72 hours of broadcasting to the music of Lester Young and Charlie Parker.

Join WKCR as we dedicate three days of programming to the music of two of the greatest saxophonists: Lester Young (born 8/27/1909) and Charlie Parker (born 8/29/1920). Each can be heard for 36 hours beginning August 27th. The music of Lester Young is an eternal font of jazz, returned to again and again by each generation of musicians. His lyrical conception, intimate tone, and sly, shocking phrasing helped redefine both his instrument, the tenor saxophone, and the jazz solo in general. In the Basie band, his flights of fancy found support on the ground of fresh swing rhythms. Combined with the burnished singing of Billie Holiday, his wit took on an edge and softened pained sophistication into raw beauty. It's no stretch to claim Pres as one of the greatest this music will ever produce. Dig for yourself from 12m on the 27th until 11:59am on the 28th.

In Charlie Parker, we find more than just incredible technique, fearless improvisation, and newly advanced senses of harmony and rhythm. His fusing of all three opened the door not just to bebop, but to everything that followed, from Lee Konitz to Anthony Braxton. There are many others who contributed to the bebop revolution, including Diz, Monk, Klook, etc., but it is in Bird's music in which we hear the birth of what we now mean by "jazz." His tragic passing does not lessen the imprint of his contributions, and in the end it is always best to search for this impact in the music itself. Be sure to do so from 12n on the 28th until 11:59pm on the 29th.

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Submitted by Leena Mahan on Tue, 23 Aug 2011, 12:56amWednesday August 24, 2011 6-9pm: Tune in to the Musician's Show this week to hear from percussionist, drummer and vibraphonist Ches Smith. A versatile player and composer, Smith has recorded and performed in a variety of settings, including work with Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, the solo percussion project Congs for Brums and his quartet These Arches with Tony Malaby, Mary Halverson and Andrea Parkins. Listen as Smith discusses his own work as well as recordings that have had an influence on his playing and composition. For more information, including dates for upcoming performances with These Arches, visithttp://www.chessmith.com/index.html

[John L]

"it is in Bird's music in which we hear the birth of what we now mean by "jazz." "

I suppose this should be "modern jazz."

[alocispepraluger102]

few folks can speak knowledgeably of jazz and it's lineage.

as we all know, there are mountains of fine jazz predating bird.

[alocispepraluger102]

the 3 day marathon is now well into the prez phase.

http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/

Edited August 27, 2011 by alocispepraluger102

[fasstrack]

the 3 day marathon is now well into the prez phase.

http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/

KCR is the best! They are an invaluable resource in NY and the Web. They are NY and radio at its best. This annual event is one of many that make up their great contribution to this art, but I confess it's my favorite.

I called Sharif Abdul Salaam this morning to give a shout out. I have to thank him and KCR for so many years of not only pleasure but a personal leg up. One day on an appropriate thread I'll get into how my career in jazz actually started with gigs at the West End that are in their archives. BTW those archives include countless interviews people like Max Roach, Doris Parker, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey---just for openers. Hours and hours of tape. There are also a lot of live performances from the aforementioned West End. I hope someday this treasure trove becomes cataloged, organiozed, and available to musicians, fans, and scholars. Meanwhile they are played at festivals like these, Birdflight, and at other times. Phil Schaap has quite a few on his website (not sure if they are for sale or not). But it's catch-as-catch-can. You have to listen and get lucky. That's part of the fun. BTW they also have great reggae, gospel, blues, bluegrass, and funk and R&B shows Saturdays and Sundays. The classical music shows are weekday mornings(after Birdflight)and afternoons (after Out To Lunch). And no slick, professional voices are ever heard. The DJs are music-loving Columbia students diving into the CD and record library headfirst and mining their own collections.

WKCR has a strange and strained relationship with their 'parent', Columbia University. Columbia houses but does not support them. I believe it's the fact that they are a music station and apolitical that Columbia tolerates them and allows their signal. But WKCR almost went under a few times in recent years until saved by donations and are now seek to 'endow' themselves so as not to have to fund-raise. I think we would do well to send a check once a year, as per individual budgets. Life would not be the same without them.

[alocispepraluger102]

sincere thanks for so eloquently expressing what i feel in my heart.

i'm a contributor.

i savor all i can, for wkcr as we know it could end on a moment's notice.

i don't want to think about a time without wkcr.

[fasstrack]

sincere thanks for so eloquently expressing what i feel in my heart.

i'm a contributor.

i savor all i can, for wkcr as we know it could end on a moment's notice.

i don't want to think about a time without wkcr.

Beautifully said.

[Christiern]

I turned on KCR today, just in time to hear Phil Schaap almost outdo himself in blather babble. He was about to play Billie's "All of Me", the one on which Prez takes an extra chorus. I didn't have the stopwatch going, but Phil spent at least ten minutes (more like 15-20) trying to explain why that take was not issued originally. The simple explanation is that It was too long to fit on a 10" disc, but Phil had to tell the listener why the standard sized 78rpm disc could not accommodate 3 minutes and 48 sec. (or whatever it was). Billie, he said could have upped the tempo, but she chose to keep it slow, so another take had to be made and one of Prez's choruses was eliminated. He never explained that the recordings were made on 16" acetates (which were used during the transition from the old wax-like substance to tape,and made it possible to exceed the normal length (which a 10" master disc would not). He just had to make up a story and invent another imagined scenario. Thus a brief exchange between Billie and someone he went to great length do describe as "possibly" Bernie Hanighen, because the voice "is not John Hammond's", became a story.

The voice from the control room informs the players that the take was about a minute too long. Billie says something like, ""I know, we'll do it over." What was she thinking? Why did she sound irritated? The Schaap knows. Silly stuff of the kind that makes many people think Phil is the greatest authority. He has even identified himself as such, but much of his purported "inside knowledge" is fantasy.

As for the voice from the control room, it could have been the recording engineer's, but that did not occur to Phil, nor is it really important. That led into several minutes spent talking about producers having been designated as A&R men or supervisors, and other irrelevant details—and, of course, everything was repeated at least once.

BTW, this 1941 take of "All of Me" was on an acetate I unearthed at Columbia and issued about 40 years ago.

[alocispepraluger102]

I turned on KCR today, just in time to hear Phil Schaap almost outdo himself in blather babble. He was about to play Billie's "All of Me", the one on which Prez takes an extra chorus. I didn't have the stopwatch going, but Phil spent at least ten minutes (more like 15-20) trying to explain why that take was not issued originally. The simple explanation is that It was too long to fit on a 10" disc, but Phil had to tell the listener why the standard sized 78rpm disc could not accommodate 3 minutes and 48 sec. (or whatever it was). Billie, he said could have upped the tempo, but she chose to keep it slow, so another take had to be made and one of Prez's choruses was eliminated. He never explained that the recordings were made on 16" acetates (which were used during the transition from the old wax-like substance to tape,and made it possible to exceed the normal length (which a 10" master disc would not). He just had to make up a story and invent another imagined scenario. Thus a brief exchange between Billie and someone he went to great length do describe as "possibly" Bernie Hanighen, because the voice "is not John Hammond's", became a story.

The voice from the control room informs the players that the take was about a minute too long. Billie says something like, ""I know, we'll do it over." What was she thinking? Why did she sound irritated? The Schaap knows. Silly stuff of the kind that makes many people think Phil is the greatest authority. He has even identified himself as such, but much of his purported "inside knowledge" is fantasy.

As for the voice from the control room, it could have been the recording engineer's, but that did not occur to Phil, nor is it really important. That led into several minutes spent talking about producers having been designated as A&R men or supervisors, and other irrelevant details—and, of course, everything was repeated at least once.

BTW, this 1941 take of "All of Me" was on an acetate I unearthed at Columbia and issued about 40 years ago.

i heard that bit of extended buffoonery(and have it here on a drive), except i remember it going on for what must have been half an hour. if anything, you understated the absurdity of the routine.

it seems to me, that without phil's ridiculous hyperbole, the station as we've come to know it would not exist. wkcr is like having pinto bean soup with the rocks left in. great art has strange and unlikely bedfellows.

Edited August 29, 2011 by alocispepraluger102

[JSngry]

pinto bean soup with the rocks left in.

I'm reminded of how my mom would always take a little extra time (well, ok, a lot) to clean the beans before cooking them, rinsing them repeatedly, going through them handful by handful until the grit and rocks were all removed.

As she said one time after I had asked her why she worked so hard on something as basic as beans, "There's really no excuse not to".

You GO, Mom!