[JPL] Charlie Parker and the food of Jazz

[Paul Combs]

That's pretty close to what I remember Jay saying in the interview.

Eric Jackson wrote:
> Paul Combs wrote:
>> Jay McShann told the firsthand story in an interview on a CD released 
>> about 8-10 years ago, that I think was produced by Duke Robillard. If 
>> my memory serves me correctly, McShann is officially co-composer of 
>> "Yardbird Suite."
>>
>> Ciao,
>
> I always heard that Bird was traveling with Jay and they hit a chicken 
> and Bird made them stop and get the chicken. He took it where ever 
> they were going and had the chicken cooked. According to Miles, Bird 
> didn't share the chicken with anyone.
>
> Saxophonist Leonard brown told me that he was hanging out with Jay and 
> he said Jay told an x-rated version of that story.
>
> Eric Jackson
> Mon - Thurs 8 pm - mid.
> 89.7 FM WGBH Boston
> www.wgbh.org/jazz
>
>
>
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> Lloyd Townsend, Jr. wrote:
>>> The story I've heard most often comes from his early touring days, 
>>> probably after a gig where they'd gotten shorted -- the group was in 
>>> a car, on the way out of town, when they passed a place where some 
>>> chickens were out pecking around; Parker told the driver to pull 
>>> over so he could jump out and grab one of the "yardbirds" for their 
>>> dinner a few miles on down the road.
>>>
>>> Lloyd Townsend
>>> Prop., Imaginary Records
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Dec 14, 2008, at 11:27 AM, Jon Burr wrote:
>>>
>>>> Re: Bird
>>>>
>>>> Where did his nickname come from? There are diverging accounts out 
>>>> there.
>>>>
>>>> "Bird" is a contraction of his actual nickname, which was 
>>>> "Yardbird." One account (I don't recall the source) said that it 
>>>> was bestowed upon him by members of Basie's band, who would spot 
>>>> him as a youngster hanging out in the yard outside the Kansas City 
>>>> club where they were in residence, listening to the band as an 
>>>> underage wannabe. This is the most reliable, in my opinion. I'll 
>>>> try to dig out the source.
>>>>
>>>> Here's a published reference to his "full nickname" -
>>>> http://www.cmgww.com/music/parker/about/biography.html
>>>>
>>>> Hold the fried chicken!
>>>>
>>>> Jon
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Well Charlie Parker's nickname throughout his life was 'Bird'. 
>>>>> There are a number of accounts as to why. One is that it described 
>>>>> the way he played - he was able to control the saxophone with such 
>>>>> fluency that he sounded like a bird. But another says that he 
>>>>> developed this nickname because he had a profound love for 
>>>>> deep-fried chicken. In relation to this, i watched 'Rockwiz' the 
>>>>> other night and a random bit of trivia that came out was that the 
>>>>> great jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald once sung for a Kentucky Fried 
>>>>> Chicken commercial (in my opinion Fitzgerald is the second-best 
>>>>> jazz vocalist ever - next to Billie Holiday).
>>>>>
>>>>> So it seems that the food of Jazz is deep-fried chicken. I am just 
>>>>> so unsatisfied with this! Jazz is very cool, and well deep-fried 
>>>>> chicken...just sucks. But then again, Jazz /is/ American music so 
>>>>> it has to have American food. The New Orleans Cafe 
>>>>> <http://www.neworleanscafe.com.au/> in Crows Nest Sydney interpret 
>>>>> Jazz food as basically southern food - Cajun and Jambalaya (and 
>>>>> they do make a good Jambalaya). Maybe this is historically 
>>>>> accurate, but i think we should develop a new food for Jazz, 
>>>>> something cool, swave, colourful and a little radical.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> -
>>>> (Jon Burr)
>>>> jon at jonburr.com
>>>> http://jonburr.com
>>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpOeae-JB2o
>>>> http://www.myspace.com/jonburr
>>>> http://jonburrband.com
>>>> http://myspace.com/jonburrband
>>>> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001GIATYW
>>>> http://youtube.com/jbQMedia
>>>> -- 
>>>>
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>>
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>
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