This history of jazz is more a primer on how to listen to it Nov 22, 2009
It s all here (albeit abbreviated), from Bessie Smith to Buddy Bolden to Louis Armstrong to Coleman Hawkins to Charlie Parker to John Coltrane to Jason Moran. The basic configurations of the jazz ensemble are examined and explained for the uninitiated. (Boston Globe)
Musician to reflect on race in media Nov 17, 2009
He worked closely with Frank Sinatra, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Bob Dylan in his early days. Belafonte has received a Grammy for his albums "Swing Dat Hammer" (1960) and "An Evening With Harry Belafonte" (1965). (Daily Orange, NY)
Roy Hargrove latest is Emergence. Nov 10, 2009
Charlie Parker With Strings is a much admired album so too is Clifford Brown with Strings and the great Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson, did on occasion sit in with a big band. Emergence released on the label, finds Roy in the company of nineteen musicians and singer Roberta Gambarini, who is very comfortable in front of a big band. (Suite101.com)
New biography of Sugar Ray a one-two punch Nov 8, 2009
"And it was jazz in particular that moved him, curled his mind into delicate introspection and observation. Those stuttering jazz stanzas were like big canyon-wide flashes of light ... The men he admired -- Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Billy Eckstine, Miles Davis, Cootie Williams among them-- had seemed to bring the same discipline to their craft that he brought to his: It was the discipline of science, coupled with the fleetness and derring-do of improvisation.". In such insightfully literate... (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA -- Sports)
High priest of bebop Oct 25, 2009
But soon his contemporaries - saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie - overshadowed him, ultimately earning more fame, money, and admiration. For Monk s entire life, it bothered him that Bird n Diz, as they were known, came to be identified with bebop s birth, when he believed that he was its true father. (Boston Globe)
Happy birthday to the great King of Bebop Oct 21, 2009
Along with virtuoso Charlie Parker and a coterie of other innovators, he was the trumpeter who created the musical mode that they call bebop and which now permeates much of jazz. He and the dazzling Parker enjoyed what Gillespie described as "layers and layers of spirit" between these two African-American standouts. (Albany Times Union)
Pack at home with Hornets Oct 21, 2009
"When we made changes, I needed another guard coach to go along with Charlie Parker that has some youth and enthusiasm, and Pack was the man.". Since retirement, Pack pushed to become an assistant coach in the NBA. Trying to get his foot in the door, he spent last season as an assistant with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Developmental League. (Nola.com -- Sports)
Concert celebrates jazz album anniversary Oct 13, 2009
Cobb was inspired by a variety of musicians, including Max Roach, Kenny Clarke, Charlie Parker and, of course, Davis, just to name a few. When he decided he wanted to learn how to really play, it wasn't a simple feat. (University News, MO)
Junior Mance to perform at Church of the Covenant Oct 8, 2009
Gigs with Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Dinah Washington, Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderley, and others followed, and in the 90s Mance joined the elite 100 Gold Fingers that included Dave McKenna. Mance is in town for a rare solo concert. (Boston Globe)
'Kind of Blue' at 50: Behind Davis' Masterpiece Oct 7, 2009
Jones, who as a young trumpeter in the '50s was heavily influenced by his close friend Davis, considers "Kind of Blue" a culmination of a golden era in jazz that began in the late '40s with the bebop revolution launched by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. At the same time, the album foretold the new sounds that would emerge in the '60s. (Missourian Publishing, MO)
Miles Davis masterly Kind of Blue turns 50 Oct 7, 2009
Golden era in jazzJones, who as a young trumpeter in the '50s was heavily influenced by his close friend Davis, considers "Kind of Blue" a culmination of a golden era in jazz that began in the late '40s with the bebop revolution launched by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. At the same time, the album foretold the new sounds that would emerge in the '60s. (MSNBC -- Music)
Free jazz performances planned Oct 3, 2009
A typical evening with The Commanders might include favorites from Duke Ellington, Woody Herman and Count Basie to Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to the sounds of todays greatest salsa groups and modern jazz groups, plus American show tunes and pop songs delivered by the groups enchantingly talented vocalist. Their renditions of hot jazz standards of any style feature rousing improvised solos from every instrument in the group. (Ontario Argus Observer, OR)
NEC toasts its unique niche Sep 13, 2009
Having awakened to jazz hearing Duke Ellington and gone on to work with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and other luminaries, Schuller found it appalling that no full-fledged jazz degree program existed. Pianist Ran Blake, who arrived to teach at NEC the same year as Schuller and remains on the faculty today, says even Schuller s friends were shocked at how fast he started the program. (Boston Globe)
WEEKEND HOT PICKS IN ENTERTAINMENT Aug 28, 2009
The 17th annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, two afternoons of free music, tunes into Marcus Garvey Park (Mount Morris Park at 124th Street) tomorrow, which would have been his 89th birthday, and to Tompkins Square Park (Eighth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B) on Sunday. Frank Wess, a sax man who played with Count Basie and on "Saturday Night Live," headlines tomorrow's show, and post-bopper jazz pianist Cedar Walton pays tribute to Bird on Sunday. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
20 actors who know the meaning of range Aug 23, 2009
Charlie Parker, Bird, 1988. Bebop saxophonist. (Boston Globe)
Universal Music Australia to Distribute Savoy Label Group Aug 22, 2009
UMA is Australia's leading music company and SLG is home to many of the greatest recordings in contemporary jazz by artists such as Charles Mingus, Milt Jackson, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Denon Classics is one of the world's most respected labels. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Kind of Blue Aug 18, 2009
On March 2, 1959, when its first tracks were laid down at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studio (the album would be released on Aug. 17), Charlie Parker, the exemplar of modern jazz, the greatest alto saxophonist ever, had been dead for four years, almost to the day. The jazz world was still waiting, longing, for "the next Charlie Parker" and wondering where he'd take the music. (Slate)
Entertainer Spotlight on Andrew Allan Bentley (31) Aug 13, 2009
He remembers his father listening to the music of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Sly and the Family Stone and Isaac Hayes, but it was the news of the death of John Lennon that became the impetus for him to pick up guitar at the age of ten and learn Beatle songs. My mother took me to my first concert when I was 13. (Desert Entertainer, CA)
Herb Pomeroy tribute in Gloucester Aug 8, 2009
The swing and bebop jazz trumpeter played with Charlie Parker, Lionel Hampton, and his own jazz bands for more than 50 years, and taught at the Berklee College of Music. Pomeroy died in 2007. (Boston Globe)
Hazel Scott Jazz Pioneer And Activi... Aug 2, 2009
A year later her family moved from Trinidad to America in 1924 and two years later she made her formal American debut at New York s famed Town Hall, site of many great performances and recordings by the likes of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. At fourteen she was offered many scholarships to Julliard in New York. (Suite101.com)
George Russell, 86; composer, theoretician led giants of jazz to fertile new lands Jul 29, 2009
In New York City during the 1940s, he listened nightly to saxophonist Charlie Parker, the bebop pioneer. Mr. Russell also met trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and a group of Cuban musicians whose work led him to compose Cubano Be/Cubano Bop, which premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1947. (Boston Globe)
"Straight No Chaser" The Music of M... Jul 20, 2009
"His music is a brew indeed, wildly contrasting rhythmic bottoms and electronic serial sound, wrote Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), author of Blues People and Black Music ( Harper Perennial ). Born in 1926, Miles grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, to a privileged life. His family had a big house in the city and a 200-acre country estate where he loved to ride horses when he was a boy. Miles began playing the trumpet when he was 13-years-old, after receiving the instrument from his father and... (Suite101.com)
The Best Year in Jazz Ever Jul 17, 2009
They had all come of age during the World War II era, bebop revolution of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Bird and Diz, as they were often known, brought radical change to jazz, turning the long bluesy lines that were the mainstream into intricate, complex staccato rhythms. (Slate)
U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 8 Jul 8, 2009
The band headlined a "who's who" of future jazz stars, including Dizzy Gillispie, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker, as well as singer Sarah Vaughn. Eckstine also recorded a number of vocal hits, with his rich baritone, and even invented a popular, widely-flared shirt collar, known as the "Mr. B. Collar." Bop recordings are still among the classics bought by jazz fans -- who purchase about 3 percent of recordings each year. (PR Newswire)
Stirring The Emotions Jul 8, 2009
He's interesting and charismatic, but you can't make yourself care about an athlete any more than you can make yourself love William Faulkner or Charlie Parker if their words and music don't speak to you. I've never wished him well or ill; he was background music for me. (SportsIllustrated.CNN -- Tennis)
Herman Leonard's portraits of giants of jazz Jun 29, 2009
Leonard has been called the Charlie Parker of photography. But when asked which musician he'd like to be compared to, Leonard names Gillespie. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
The Jazz Beat: Diana Krall, struggling no more Jun 28, 2009
He started giving me Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and John Coltrane records. At age 17 she won a scholarship from the Vancouver International Jazz Festival to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. (Kingston Mariner, MA)
IN MY LIBRARY: LYNDA CARTER Jun 22, 2009
"I don't know anyone who just wants to listen to one kind of music," says Carter, whose new CD, "At Last," is a mix of the Supremes hits, Charlie Parker and the Obamas' theme song. Here's what's tops on her literary playlist. (New York Post -- Opinions)
Jack Nimitz, saxophonist in Woody Herman big band Jun 18, 2009
In the early 1970s, he added his baritone to the Charlie Parker tribute band Supersax. His first album as a leader was the 1995 session on Fresh Sound records called Confirmation, which focused heavily on bebop tunes. (Boston Globe)
Charlie Mariano, saxophonist, musical sojourner Jun 17, 2009
Near the end of the war, Mr. Mariano, who was stationed on an air base north of Los Angeles, heard Charlie Parker play live for the first time, during Parker s first West Coast gig, at Billy Berg s jazz club in Hollywood. He completely turned my head, Mr. Mariano said of Parker in Tears of Sound, a 1993 biography of Mr. Mariano published in Germany. (Boston Globe)
Huey Long, 105; jazz guitarist, sang with the Ink Spots Jun 16, 2009
HOUSTON - Huey Long, a jazz guitarist with the famed Ink Spots vocal group whose career included stints with musical giants Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, died Wednesday in a nursing home in Houston, said his daughter, Anita Long. He was 105. Mr. Long was first drawn to music as a teenager when a group of minstrels visited his hometown of Sealy, Texas. (Boston Globe)
Life By the Horns Jun 1, 2009
For someone like me, growing up in America, there were only Hemingwayesque heroes to look up to: Dylan Thomas, destroying his art by drinking and whoring until he dropped dead; Charlie Parker playing 52nd Street, his arms scarred with heroin tracks; Rocky Graziano smoking in the locker room before going out to knock out tough-as-leather Tony Zale; Ted Williams, the best hitter ever, volunteering for flying missions over North Korea. Here s a friend, Stanley Reynolds, writing on Papa: Making a... (The American Conservative)
Flatlanders shed legend to become a band May 28, 2009
And while Eckstine's band featured Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, Fats Navarro, Kenny Dorham and Art Blakey, he had the misfortune to lead this band during the musicians' recording strike against the record labels during World War II.. With the Flatlanders, the band's 1972 recording session was made on a fluke ---- and for 20 years, the only copies in existence were the original master tapes and some 8-tracks the small Plantation label had made. (North County Times)
Armando Peraza to play at Yoshi's May 27, 2009
He followed Santamaria to New York in 1949, where, on his second day in this country, he played with Charlie Parker. He brought Latin rhythms to the George Shearing Quintet for more than a dozen years at the height of that landmark group's popularity. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Roy times two Apr 17, 2009
Roxbury native Roy Haynes has recalled that "A teacher in school once sent me to the principal because I was drumming with my hands on the desk in class." The drumming continued with Lester Young, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, and others. "A Conversation With Roy Haynes" is hosted and moderated by author Bob Blumenthal. (Boston Globe)
Jazzmouth turns 5 with Mose Allison and Donald Hall as headliners Apr 16, 2009
He is an early practitioner of vocalese, the practice of setting a lyric to a recorded horn solo, such as a Charlie Parker or Dizzy Gillespie break on top of a jazz standard. Bob Dorough found a second career as the chief composer for the hit children's television show "Schoolhouse Rock." He will forever be immortalized for "Conjunction Juntion," but be assured, his lyricism and musicality go much deeper than that. (Seacoast New Hampshire)
A musician's travels Mar 28, 2009
Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus. Leonard Bernstein, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen. (Daytona Beach News Journal)
Flamenco star lights up stages from London to the Berkshires Mar 14, 2009
She listened to a lot of jazz when she was younger - Miles Davis, Charlie Parker - and loves classic flamenco voices, though she also likes to "disconnect" sometimes and dance to house music in a club. In her spare time she reads, preferably nonfiction, though she also enjoys Chinese novels. (Boston Globe)
Chappell, Teague to bring home popular show Mar 13, 2009
At other times, Teague easily can knock out Indian ragas or improvise on complicated jazz charts with the incomparable skills of Charlie Parker. Our audience will leave with a greater respect for the steelpan if they haven;t already heard what Liam can do with it,; Chappell said. (DeKalb Daily Chronicle, IL)
Why It's So Hard To Play Like Thelonious Monk Mar 11, 2009
For instance, Charlie Parker not only invented a new way of playing jazz; he also perfected it. A generation of alto saxophonists latched on to his style, but the best of them knew better than to play his tunes very often, for fear of inviting comparison, inevitably to their detriment. (Slate)
Stevie Wonder Performs At The White House Feb 26, 2009
It is too late for Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie,and so many others, but knowing Mr. Morris, this honor is shared through the spirit with all who have come before. The song "You and I" was probably the theme song for most weddings where the couple knew of the song, it is beautiful, and sung so well that no one has dared to cover it, because they couldn't sing it any better. (CBS News)
"American Idol," post-Heidegger edition Feb 26, 2009
It's a brilliant performance, larded with a spectacular level of name-dropping -- from Plato to Vico to Goethe to Melville to Beethoven to Chekhov to Charlie Parker -- and best appreciated, I suspect, for its style rather than its substance. "Examined Life" has a certain flavor of intellectual game show or high-concept magazine article about it, and I say that with affection. (Salon)
Jazz livens up von der Mehden Feb 25, 2009
A total of six different ensembles performed on the night playing hits by Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and others ... The Jazz Scholars followed the Lab Band with a rendition of Charlie Parker's "Anthropology." The Lab Band was a full ensemble with about 20 musicians, but the Scholars were composed of only five. (The Daily Campus, CT)
Fairies wing it at Midsummer Feb 25, 2009
Jazz, jazz and more jazz - Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Gil Scott-Heron. Who do you dream of performing with and where. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
A Passage to India Feb 23, 2009
By ninth grade, Mahanthappa was fronting a band that, by his own account, tortured tunes by Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and others he admired. He graduated from Berklee College of Music, and went on to earn a master s in jazz composition at DePaul University, in Chicago. (New Yorker)
Davis on Davis Feb 10, 2009
IN Miles: The Autobiography the trumpeter Miles Davis remembers his excitement at hearing the Billy Eckstine Orchestra, with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, in a St. Louis nightclub in 1944 ... While acknowledging his genius, Davis characterizes Charlie Parker as "greedy," a man who "was always trying to con or beat you out of something to support his drug habit.". (The Atlantic Online)
Thanks, but we don't need an arts czar Feb 8, 2009
After all, he and Joe Biden described themselves as "champions of arts and culture." Surely, they hope, a president who is a best-selling author - and who totes an iPod containing "a lot of Coltrane, a lot of Miles Davis, a lot of Charlie Parker" - will embrace the idea of an arts czar. But the case for a national cultural overseer is no better today than it was 50 years ago, "in the early and artistically optimistic days of the Kennedy administration," as Harper's editor Russell Lynes wrote at... (Boston Globe -- Editorial)
