I'm a music student-our regiment is 6 hours a day, at a conservatory level. 11 hours...a...day....is commitment beyond anything at a college level. This man's love for his craft is beyond comprehension . Charlie, say hi to my dad for me in heaven. I know you are both there.
Ace, music conservatory will drive any jazz out of you. I thru up my hands after 1/2 a semester of music theory; such training will suck true improv skills right out of you. 3 to 4 hours per day of practice is enough.
This was when he was between about 14 and 18 years old, the magical age range when you can focus solely on one thing 100%. He wasn’t doing it cuz he had to, like a student studying for a test. He must’ve enjoyed it and must have been striving toward something in his head, some goal you can only focus on so purely when you’re that young, living with your parents with no life responsibilities. Hendrix was similarly rumored to fall asleep as a teen with his guitar in his hands and wake up and begin playing more. Got to thank Charlie’s mom for not kicking his ass out the door at age 14 to go work some menial job for peanuts.
I can hear the age in Mr. Parker's voice, yet he passed away at only 34... it's hard to imagine what he had to live through in those days. Thank you for posting this interview, it is great.
Charlie is considered the greatest saxophone musician, but yet he talks about studying in Paris. No matter how much of a "Master" you are, there is always more to learn. A true genius is someone who is humble and always willing to learn their craft.
For those who are totally unaware of who the interviewer is......it is the great Paul Desmond himself. Another giant of the alto sax,who while in seeming awe of Bird... developed his own style in a completely original manner. In this interview,he sounds a little nervous talking to Parker. But I'm sure he cherished his meeting with him,like a little kid meeting his favorite pro sports hero. I believe Parker and Desmond are in the top 10 all time modern jazz alto players. You can hear the respect Paul had for Bird,and Bird seems totally at ease with Desmond. A truly informative and historical interview..preserved for all of us on RU-vid.
Bird is unique along with the originators of African American Classical music. BUT WE don't rate them numerically,we just delve into the spirits of the moments.
I always admired Charlie Parker as a musician. This interview really makes me admire him as a human being. Obviously his life isn't exactly one that should be emulated, but he loved his work so, so much and was so dedicated to it. It also does a lot to demonstrate how conscious his creative decisions were.
I always heard a lot about Charlie "Bird" Parker from the books and other jazz musicians, I never thought I would hear him talking so beautifully about music and his experiences as a musician. Paul Desmond has done a great job for this legendary interview, I'm sure he foresaw the value it would bring in future for his fans, old and young, musicians and non-musicians. One of my favorites from his many compositions is "Parker Mood." I heard that he was always a good speaker, full of knowledge, very humble, and very encouraging to the young musicians and the lover of all. One can hear that from the tone of his voice and how he answers the interview questions. I loved both men;s saxophone tones and improvisational ideas and originality and this interview is like a coincidence for me. Thanks.
Andile Meshack there are lots of books written about parker, like "bird lives" by ross russel.he just wanted to make money ,like he did when he made bird work for his dial records when bird was seriously ill.He just too advantage of bird like many people did,bird was an easy target because of his addiction.there are some good books written about bird by people who knew him and they give completely differeny picture of bird which i strongly believe is right: very sensitive,human intellectual.And a musical genius just like mozart was.A guy like this lives in racist society and has to play in night clubs.That takes its toll.I mean just listen him play,that tells you how he really was,no liar books needed.i'm sure bird did some nasty things in his life,so who doesnt?.that is NOT important,nor is his drug& alcohol addiction.His music is important.That is what he gave to us,his genius which is still underrated because it so out of this world that most people in this world will never get it because they don't want to study it.it is not bigmac meal you can just consume and forget about it,throw it away.Bird was diagnosed "paranoid schitzophrenic" by western medical science. Science my ass! So was some many peole who contributed so much arts: coltrane,mingus,bud powell, van gogh etc.Its like we are offered the greatest things world can give and we reject them and prefer the shit music moneymakers try to forcefeed us, succesfully,sory to say.It is very sad most people are still not ready for the finest things world has to offer.
It’s amazing to hear his voice , we know the voice of his horn . He was such a modest man when you consider what he achieved in music , it’s a tragic he died so young
I've spent so much of my life dedicated to studying Parker's music. I'm sitting here in tears, hearing his voice for the first time. Thank you so much for this. His humility in this interview, whether it be drug-driven or not, is astonishing.
i heard they'd give trane a hotel room way away from anybody else if they could ... 'cause he'd practice, and practice, and then he'd practice some more ...
Hearing the legend talking, not playing, for the first time here ...for me, is mind blowing. One builds up a 'picture personality' about anyone -banal or genius, from whatever they do for a living or what art form they've taken up; and that becomes a sort of template... buried within one's psyche. So when a moment like this comes along, out of the blue -no one said 'hey Mick -you ought to listen to the Charlie Parker interview'..... After 50 years listening to only his music, so eloquent..
Great to hear that snapshot in time. Birds music speaks forever. 'And those seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who couldn't hear the music'.
Interesting to think that, as a teenager, Bird attempted to solo at a jam and was rung off the stage by Joe Jones. All that practice (& a touch of genius) certainly paid off.
One giant being interviewed by another. Paul Desmond is one of the all time greats. Bird is perhaps the greatest of all time (along with Coltrane). Just to hear their voices is incredible.
It may not be fully understood through this interview, but Parker was a man of great intellect. He was tremendously well read, and all the musicians surrounding him commented that he had a genius level of intelligence, despite his mythic drug use. One musician in Burns' Jazz documentary said that Bird was so smart he could even discuss nuclear physics. He was known for being able to fix people's cars that had broken down outside of clubs. He was a remarkable person. People must remember that he became a drug addict at a very, very young age. He was in a terrible accident that nearly killed him, and he was in the hospital for months receiving morphine. I have no doubt that his injuries carried with him his entire life. So a lot of the jazz guys who followed Bird who felt Parker's heroin use is what propelled him to greatness were mistaken. He didn't take dope for creative reasons. He took it for personal and emotional pain.
Boston radio, c. Jan. 1954 - WCOP, I think this is all that survives of the broadcast, so far as I know Likely recorded at the station by engineer John McClellan, who also worked on live Bird club remotes in Boston from the Hi Hat and Storeyville
A great bassist furnishes: melody, harmony, rhythm, double stops, textures and more. All instruments are limitless in what they are capable of rendering. It really depends on the imagination, mentality and skill of the player. Drums and many other instruments can do so as well. When we listen to great players, it is astonishing what they can coax out of their instrument/instruments.
And silence (at 4:15) is all that remains after that magnificent statement about schooling. "It's like a good pair of shoes when you put a shine on it". Love this bit of history. Thanks for uploading this. Love hearing the masters talk!
Amazing that this interview was conducted approx. a year before his death. He sounds so strong one would never know how ravaged his body was at the time
My confession. I had no idea he was so well spoken and engaging when interacting with others. Also he appears to be a practical joker with a good sense of humor. (see him with Coleman Hawkins) Other video clips and the BBC documentary provide a better image of the person behind the myth the media put forth. This interview is a valuable posting that tells more about him than the Hollywood production.
Yes, He was very well-read and articulate...able to converse on a wide range of topics. He even shared tea and crumpets with Albert Einstein while discussing his theory of relativity. True story.
Yeah, the film that Eastwood did really didn't capture his intellect at all, the portrayal was more about his drug use and the effect of that. I don't remember one line from that film that made Charlie Parker seem the least intellectual.
Wynton Marsalis said that all the musicians who played with Bird said he was incredibly well read and without question had a genius level of intelligence. One of the musicians in Burns' Jazz documentary talks about Bird being able to discuss nuclear physics. He was incredibly smart, and there is even some thinking that one of the reasons why he had such an issue with drinking and dope is that he had a hard time being able to relate to people. That he felt incredibly isolated and was in many ways a man before his time.
maybe y'all should stop assuming black people only speak like the minstrel show, crime characters you see on TV and y'all will stop being so surprised. I know you meant your comment to be taken in kind but it gets very tiring to see "he's so articulate" over and over again when black guys do nothing more than string a couple sentences together. It's so terribly patronizing.
Man! This great J.S. Bach and bird were the two baddesr mother fuckers (musicaly) that EVER LIVED!!! What a treat-thank you -whom ever ---Tim Green? wow!!!!
Thats an apt analogy although Mozart and Beethoven were CREATIVE artists 1st and performing artists second. Parker 'composed" on the spot, in real time. In my opinion what we call BEBOP is a style that was invented and largely exclusive to Bird. Its what he played- others tried to copy it with varying degrees of success but unless its Bird, it sounds artificial OR it sounds like someone copying Bird. (to me anyway). Desmond is one of the small handful of alto sax players who developed his own sound (Others might be Koonitz and Art Pepper). The others were under Parkers shadow. I know Sonny Stitt was criticized for copying him, although part of that is just the range. Tenor sax players became the most common sax, I think to avoid such comparisons. Like when Miles Davis got known for using a mute, other players dropped it or they were acused of copyimg Miles. I have great respect for all jazz musicians, but only Charlie deserves the title of genius( A word i use seriously- Einstein, da Vinci, maybe Edison , possibly Picasso). His voice and vocabulary proves he was sophisticated far beyond his years, education, and circumstances of his early life. Once in a hundred years. Miles was very influential and important in jazz history - but he isnt in Bird's unique category. Art Tatum may have had similar technical abilities, but not the originality or invention
You have it backwards...Mozart was the Bird of the 18th century,and the baddest of them all...in the big leagues at 5 years old and playing,improvising, and creating for 30 years. When Beethoven first left home @ 17 to seek his musical future, he went straight to Mozart’s front door.
Beethoven and Mozart were both PRIMARILY known as improvisers, as was Bach. It's only through today's lens that we think of them mostly as composers. And this is more like a young Beethoven interviewing the soon-to-burn out Mozart who was the big drinker and over-indulger who couldn't get his shit together. Paul Desmond was no Beethoven though.
"schooling:(one of) the most wonderful thing(s) there has ever been"; shoul be engraved at the entrance of every public school in the country, and Charlie Parkers story should be included in every U.S. History book.
THIS....IS.....AWESOME!!! I've heard the same thing about Dizzy talking to Miles on the phone on how to play over a min7b5 chord when they were well into their senior years. They never stopped learning music. Bird was the same. And it's cool to hear Charlie talk about studying with Edgard Varese in Europe.
Thanks so much Tim for posting the interview, so filled with revelations about Paul Desmond's relationship with Bird, and Bird's sublime maturity. Inspiring to hear Bird say he'd practiced 15 hours a day for years, that he still wanted to study--with Edgard Verese!--and to keep learning. Just imagine how enriched music would have been if Bird had not destroyed himself by 34, had actually seen his desire come to fruition. Bird gave so much, and could have given so much more. Myron Schwartzman, piano
Всяка музика има своя жанър,но на музикантите джазмени,джаза е въплътено чуство на солиста ,изпълнител,които ни превзема със своите качествени изпълнения на легенди на музикалното поприще на всички времена завинаги.❤❤❤
Where the hell has that been hidden. I’ve just ordered Miles’ autobiography. I dont think Miles was that comfortable with bebop. But Miles really knew jazz in a critical way. I love Bird. Lee Konitz too who emerged at the same time formulating a different approach to solo construction otherwise Lee thought he’d get sucked into Bird’s orbit. Everyone mimicked Bird. Lee wanted to avoid that. We can forget how influential Lester Young was and Lee came from Prez. But Bird was so pure. The beauty and tragedy and fun or mischief in his playing. Bird lives.
This man is one of my greatest heros (not in the form of music but I wish to this day) in the prime example of sheer ambition to one's passion and that is him.
Paul asks about a lick....from the Klose Book. Paul was a classically trained musician and conservatory saxophonists studied out of the Klose Book and other technique books. I forget the exact title of the Klose book he mentioned but I used it in college too. Thats hip that Paul and Bird both used it. I mean its like using the Joe Viola books now I guess....but then there was no "jazz" technique books, just "traditional" technique books. This is awesome.
Great document! Miles Davis autobiography brought me here. Around min 12 Bird says that Miles graduated from Juliard but in his autobiography Miles tells how that school would not teach him what he need it so he quit before graduating. He says that jamming with all those young jazz musicians at that time in NYC was what he need it to evolve his style.
Today, August 29th, Bird turns 100 yo.Thank you, Charlie, for tour love for music, your discipline, and share It with the world!!! Your memory will ever survive while human kind it's still around. BEBOP
I would have loved to hear the tunes interspersed through the interview. But never get tired of hearing my heroes speak in their own voice. And explain what they thought and felt about their achievements and fame.
his eloquence & memory recall(steel trap mind),truly astounding...Heroin addict or not.just like John hendricks said in KB's JAZZ...HUGE MIND...LIKE THIS(Widens his hands).
A gentleman, a prankster, an intellectual, an artistic genius, and a towering and indestructible fountain of passion. There will never be one like him again.
I'd like to get hold of the whole interview -with the tracks they play and discuss.... unedited. Such a humble man; real, both feet firmly on the ground... focused. A tragedy.
wonderful to hear him speaking. I felt like i was in the room and he was speaking directly to me. we have to stop the spread of substance abuse. It has tarnished and ended so many lives. Wasnt old enough when Bird died.I would have said the same thing then.Amy Winehouse,,say hello to Charlie "Bird" .
Bird mentions that he was planning on further music study in Europe and with composer Edgard Varese. Varese was one of the fathers of 20th century electronic music, French but living in New York at the time. It could have significantly changed Bird's concept and style of playing. He died before he could follow up on any of the collaborations they'd talked about.
