The Bird

Charlie Parker. I got into Jazz, (I mean really got into it, not just humming the tunes from Tom and Jerry unknowingly) about 15 years ago. And when I heard Charlie Parker, that was it. I couldn't stop listening. I came from listening to hip-hop in my early years growing up in NYC to being a closet G&R fan in high school (closet because anyone who digressed from hip-hop in my neighborhood was deemed a head banger and that was "white" music, which would have gotten you chumped) to all the alternative rock in the 90's to discovering classic rock in college. Charlie Parker came into my life as well in college. It was "Confirmation" recorded for Verve that did it for me. And it was his tone, the sound of his horn you know, brittle, kind of harsh and grimy in the best blues traditions. But mainly it was his flow. Flow is a term that is often used to describe rappers. But rap is just the latest manifestation of the musical expressions used by African-Americans in a long line of styles that have eventually become a part of U.S. pop music. Anyway, the way Charlie Parker "freestyled" over the chords of different melodies is akin to the best rappers out there. I remember DMX's first album, "It's Dark and Hell is Hot", a great album, and I always felt that his flow, where he played with lagging behind the beat and jumping in front was very similar to Billie Holiday's style of singing. Charlie Parker's rapid fire was more like Cannabis (a rapper who had a lot of potential but just faded, he stupidly decided to have beef with more established rappers and never reached his potential). Cannabis was a nasty freestyler, fast and quick with on the spot creations. That was Charlie Parker, only Charlie Parker did things no one had done before (except maybe Louis Armstrong).

All these years later, I have gone through A Lot of music, a lot of it was listened to intensely and then forgotten about. But 15 years later, I still don't get sick of listening to The Bird.

Confirmation:


Downbeat Award Performance with Dizzy Gillespie: