Jim Europe's 369th Infantry "Hellfighters" Band

BIRD!

11" x 11" ink and gouche on art paper

Charlie Parker Memorial 1999 Cast bronze 18 feet in height Dedicated on March 27, 1999, Charlie Parker Memorial was commissioned by the City of Kansas City, Missouri, with public funds provided by the city and private funds from the Oppenheimer Brothers Foundation and Tony and Marti Oppenheimer. Charlie Parker Memorial consists of a bronze head likeness of Charlie Parker measuring 10 feet in height, mounted on 8 feet high base. On the base, etched in letters are words “BIRD LIVES.” The Memorial is installed at the southeast corner of 17th Terrace and the Paseo in Kansas City, Missouri. ARTIST DETAILS Robert Graham Born: 08/19/1938 Died: 12/27/2008 MEMORIAL DETAILS QUOTE: “Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art.”(*) – CHARLIE PARKER The words and influence of Charlie “Bird” Parker have echoed through generations of musicians. The legendary saxophonist’s electrifying sound took the jazz world by storm in the 1940s and carried on until his death in 1955. Bird’s musical ideas and instrumental prowess provided the foundation for the sound that became known as “bebop.” In 1997, internationally renowned sculptor Robert Graham was commissioned to begin work on the Charlie “Bird” Parker Memorial sculpture. With the support of former Mayor Rev. Emanuel Cleaver II, the project gained momentum and the Charlie “Bird” Parker Plaza was dedicated on March 27, 1999. Located adjacent to the Jay McShann Outdoor Pavilion on the north side of the American Jazz Museum, the Charlie “Bird” Parker Memorial faces east towards the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District where Parker cultivated his craft and perfected his art. By presenting Parker’s head in isolation from his body, the sculptor sought to capture the man’s inner essence rather than his external appearance. The jazz legend’s facial features are treated in a generalized fashion so that he appears ageless. The downward tilt of the head, the closed eyes, and the rapt expression suggest that Parker is completely absorbed in music. The artist sacrificed anatomical completeness in order to create a more visually appealing sculptural shape. Coincidentally, this cropping also transforms Parker’s profile, when seen from the south, into the rough shape of the continent of Africa. The phrase “Bird Lives”, inscribed in the base of the sculpture, rings true today. Recordings of his performances still sound immediate and fresh, and many of his challenging compositions have become standards in jazz repertoire. Charlie “Bird” Parker is an integral part of the Kansas City community and its Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District. He is considered to be one of the most gifted and original performers in jazz. In the same way, the Charlie “Bird” Parker Memorial sculpture is truly an original work of art, and a gift to all who have seen it.

LOVER MAN

A blurred blue evening sky,

an exhausted sun

propped up by the rooftops.

A vision

of the wracked shrieking body

of Charlie Parker

running a losing race

with his music,

the man reenacting

his bitter tortured love.

A memory,

a sense of the World,

and a nagging restlessness:

that mixture

of sorrow

and the joy

of loving,

turning

in the cold dark air,

the sound of life’s full circle.

‘Lover Man’,

a whirlwind spins,

sings in my ears,

swirls out

to the street

where the children play

and a blind man taps

in a cul-de-sac.

The swirling soaring passions

of Parker

are ready 

to boil

again and again,

burning away

the revolving strictures

of dull monotony.

To snatch inspiration

from the lap of conformity,

Charlie has rotted

but his spirit leaps

and speaks from grooves,

renders me

airborne again.

I cry 

and float 

on the sweetness.

KEITH ARMSTRONG

SARA VAUGHAN

11" x 11" ink and gouche on art paper

JUMPING AT THE WOODSIDE!

SONNY STITT

MINGUS SAYS:

THE MELLY-BELLY SONGS!

MELLY!

 36" x 36" acrylic on canvas.

Something sad about clowns;

something thin between laughter and tears.

Pity the dignity, the love and the hate,

the twitching wire between body and soul 

and you on that stage,

drunk on rum and borrowed blues again;

unique in the balance you keep to yourself -

never quite losing it,

never quite making it;

bawling out between Magritte and Morton,

playing the droopy-drawered clown

with yourself,

you

do the Melly Belly,

the Ovaltine,

big brash belly laugh blues.

                                                                                                    

Keith Armstrong

BERLIN BERLIN!

Lee Konitz & Charlie Parker

MINGUS MINGUS MINGUS!

FOR DAVID STEPHENSON

David Stephenson was a deep friend,

I met him through books.

He came from Carlisle

with that intense and craggy look.

We studied life together,

smoked Full Strength

and sipped Real Ale.

He liked his women big.

I learnt from him

to visit pubs at lunchtimes

to end up pissed in lectures

but, most of all,

to read the letters of Van Gogh,

the diaries of Franz Kafka,

to go inside 

the jazz 

of Ornette Coleman

and Cecil Taylor.

David told me that 

‘Most people are thick’

and, as a socialist of a kind,

I sometimes think he had a point.

I wonder where he is today.

Back across country I surmise,

smoking and looking at the sunrise,

with a fat woman kissing his neck,

listening to Mingus 

and the sky.

KEITH ARMSTRONG

Charles Mingus

Painting is 2ft x 2ft, mixed media on board.

OSCAR!

JOHN COLTRANE

A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM

A Great Day in Harlem or Harlem 1958 is a 1958 black and white group portrait of 57 notable jazz musicians photographed in front of a Brownstone in Harlem, New York City. The photo has remained an important object in the study of the history of jazz.

Art Kane, a freelance photographer working for Esquire magazine, took the picture around 10 a.m. on August 12 in the summer of 1958. The musicians had gathered at 17 East 126th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues in Harlem. Esquire published the photo in its January 1959 issue. Kane calls it "the greatest picture of that era of musicians ever taken."

Jean Bach, a radio producer of New York, recounted the story behind it in her 1994 documentary film, A Great Day in Harlem. The film was nominated in 1995 for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature.

As of April 2013, only 4 of the 57 musicians who participated are still living (see starred names in the list below.)

Red Allen

Buster Bailey

Count Basie

Emmett Berry

Art Blakey

Lawrence Brown

Scoville Browne

Buck Clayton

Bill Crump

Vic Dickenson

Roy Eldridge

Art Farmer

Bud Freeman

Dizzy Gillespie

Tyree Glenn

Benny Golson*

Sonny Greer

Johnny Griffin

Gigi Gryce

Coleman Hawkins

J.C. Heard

Jay C. Higginbotham

Milt Hinton

Chubby Jackson

Hilton Jefferson

Osie Johnson

Hank Jones

Jo Jones

Jimmy Jones

Taft Jordan

Max Kaminsky

Gene Krupa

Eddie Locke

Marian McPartland*

Charles Mingus

Miff Mole

Thelonious Monk

Gerry Mulligan

Oscar Pettiford

Rudy Powell

Luckey Roberts

Sonny Rollins*

Jimmy Rushing

Pee Wee Russell

Sahib Shihab

Horace Silver*

Zutty Singleton

Stuff Smith

Rex Stewart

Maxine Sullivan

Joe Thomas

Wilbur Ware

Dickie Wells

George Wettling

Ernie Wilkins

Mary Lou Williams

Lester Young