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bird-lives!

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:05:29 GMT

bird-lives!

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charlie parker festival 2

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:05:22 GMT

charlie parker festival 2

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charlie parker festival 3 - vanessa rubin

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:05:13 GMT

charlie parker festival 3 - vanessa rubin

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charlie parker festival 4

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:05:05 GMT

charlie parker festival 4

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charlie parker festival 5

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:04:59 GMT

charlie parker festival 5

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charlie parker festival 6

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:04:53 GMT

charlie parker festival 6

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charlie parker festival 7 - barry harris and charles mcpherson

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:04:47 GMT

charlie parker festival 7 - barry harris and charles mcpherson

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charlie parker festival 8

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:04:40 GMT

charlie parker festival 8

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cassandra wilson @ the charlie parker jazz festival. death's gonna spare none...

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:35:51 GMT

cassandra wilson @ the charlie parker jazz festival.

death's gonna spare none of us. still, as i smoke my life away, i'd like to believe there's a little extra time for us true believers.

2 yrs ago was my first cpjf. was lovely, got there late (a trend that hasn't ended unfortunately). couple pics from that here. after the festival, wandered into the meat and ligament of the village, and in the (outdoor) park with the awesome sculpture on 6 and A (pics maybe to come/be linked), heard music. stopped in. another jazz show. tho it felt invite-onlyish, ingratiated myself to the front and ended up takin pics (first summer of the d50). saw some nifty music. when i walked in, the garden was dark, save for torches and some battery powered whatever, and there was a woman onstage (liz diamond) (http://www.23hq.com/insky/liz%20diamond )singing. sounded eerily like billie holiday channeled thru snapped up equalizers (and please..i don't make that comparison lightly, ever). and she sang. weird thing was, she was sitting in a wheelchair with an oxygen tube up her nose. and i fell in love. after her (at this tiny little garden, with like 55 people there) evelyn blakey http://www.23hq.com/insky/evelyn%20blakey is introduced to raucous applause. daughter of art, she put on a fun, very swinging and bluesy set. went up to both of them after the show and chatted a bit - two of the sweetest ladies. sigh.
a year later i passed a homemade memorial for liz diamond stating she'd died, and there'd be a memorial at 6 and b (http://www.23hq.com/insky/photo/419797) . couldn't make it (hadda work) but i snapped a pic and moved on. a year later i see dewey redman standing in as headliner for the sick chico hamilton at the festival. he was, in a word amazing.
later, at the bar, who sidles in for a drink alone - dewey.
had to go up and talk to him and he ended up telling me a lot of his life story and the dynamics between him and his son joshua.
a week later i went to see a show at the jazz standard and a.goldberg told me his good friend joshua's dad had died.
hit me hard.
this year, went to the fest (laaaate), caught todd williams and it was epiphinal, and after the show the announcer (from the public jazz station here) wanted to commemorate a death in jazz.
max roach.
as the crowd applauded/was silent (there was both at the same time-it was weird), he went on to mention some other 'notable' deaths this year.
when he mentioned evelyn blakey, i went numb.
had to get a drink.
and since chico hamilton was due up next, before abby, and since i had missed him before, it seemed like a good time to have a beer.
went to the same bar i met dewey, and had one for him while doing the sunday xword.
overheard the jackass convo to my right ('yeah the music is good, but no one you know') and to the left ('one more car bomb then we're going to shea') - the guy on the right said he was waiting for cassandra wilson.
'idiot', i thought, 'abby lincoln's playing- what is he talkin about.?' soon forgot.

later, as the crowd gathered in front of the stage, i was there. then the mc announced, "abby had to cancel, the hot weather yesterday made her sick'. 'but we've got a fine replacement'. thinking oh no and 'what?' at the same time - a minute later he introduces cassandra wilson.

now, abby lincoln may be my favorite living jazz singer of all time, but dammit, kayson runs a close second. if you've read this far and don't know her, immediately put 'blue light 'til dawn' on your list and buy it - anon (now!!!). one of the only nearly perfect records of our generation, and tho this show didn't showcase that, she was there. and rocked.

i just pray the 'curse' ended already

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cassandra wilson 2

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:35:22 GMT

cassandra wilson 2

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cassandra wilson 3

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:35:01 GMT

cassandra wilson 3

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cassandra wilson 4

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:34:45 GMT

cassandra wilson 4

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cassandra wilson 5

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:34:24 GMT

cassandra wilson 5

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cassandra wilson 6

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:34:05 GMT

cassandra wilson 6

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cassandra wilson 7

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:33:46 GMT

cassandra wilson 7

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cassandra wilson 8

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:33:25 GMT

cassandra wilson 8

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cassandra wilson 9

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:33:04 GMT

cassandra wilson 9

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cassandra wilson 10

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:32:46 GMT

cassandra wilson 10

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cassandra wilson 11

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:32:29 GMT

cassandra wilson 11

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cassandra wilson 12

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:32:12 GMT

cassandra wilson 12

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cassandra wilson 13

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:31:53 GMT

cassandra wilson 13

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cassandra wilson 14

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:31:32 GMT

cassandra wilson 14

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cassandra wilson 15

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:31:12 GMT

cassandra wilson 15

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cassandra wilson 16

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:30:48 GMT

cassandra wilson 16

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2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:14:39 GMT

2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

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2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem - davell crawford

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:14:30 GMT

2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem - davell crawford

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2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem - davell crawford

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:14:20 GMT

2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem - davell crawford

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2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:14:09 GMT

2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

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2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:13:56 GMT

2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

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2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:13:40 GMT

2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

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2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:13:25 GMT

2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

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2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:13:13 GMT

2006 charlie parker jazz festival @ marcus garvey park, harlem

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joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival, tompkins square park....

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:06:31 GMT

joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival, tompkins square park.
an amazing pianist who has played with stan getz and the jazz messengers, she has a quick, complex, monk-y style
http://www.joannebrackeenjazz.com/

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joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 10

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:06:23 GMT

joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 10

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joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 11

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:06:13 GMT

joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 11

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joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 12

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:06:05 GMT

joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 12

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joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 13

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:06:00 GMT

joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 13

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joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 14

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:05:54 GMT

joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 14

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joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 15

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:05:48 GMT

joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 15

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joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 16.

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:05:44 GMT

joanne brackeen quartet @ charlie parker jazz festival 16.

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charlie parker jazz festival 17 - dewey redman -...

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 23:44:37 GMT

charlie parker jazz festival 17 - dewey redman - http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=937

dewey redman was a last minute invite to the festival as chico hamilton, the scheduled headliner, had to spend his birthday in the hospital. there was no previous announcement that i heard, and when he walked out on stage my jaw dropped.
dewey.
redman.
one of those performers i never thought i'd get a chance to see. can't afford the vanguard and lincoln center, so i end up passing on most of the legends. but there he was. and oh, what a show he played. and what a band behind him.
by the end of the show, it was obvious he was really enjoying himself. so much so that he started scatting to the music and then managed to get the crowd scatting the exact same sounds with him. while they were doing that, he got them to clap along with him to the beat (only a jazz crowd is savvy enough to keep proper time, apparently-i've never seen this done right before). slowly the band and dewey faded out and what was left was the crowd themselves, transported from observers to participants. he had broken the fourth wall in the most organic way, and it was beautiful.

for a final magic touch, we were to meet friends at a little bar on 7 and b.
about halfway through the first beer, guess who comes walking through, by himself, and sits at the bar while husker du howls in the background?
yup.
after several minutes of internal hemming and hawing, i quietly excused myself, got up and made my way over to say hi.
he seemed a little nonplussed at first, or maybe just tired, but he soon warmed up and we were talking like old friends (almost).
told him what a pleasure it was seeing him, how ed love from detroit's wdet had turned me onto his music probably 22 years ago.
he told me about a detroiter, frank tatum, he first started playing with about town when he was going to college in texas. how proud he was of his son, joshua. said, you know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. said he wasn't jealous, just a little envious of his success, but that he was a working musician and he'd just keep on playing. smiled, shook my hand, thanked me for coming over.
when i looked over to where he was, fifteen miinutes later, he was gone - just another empty seat on a sunday afternoon.

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charlie parker jazz festival 18 - dewey redman

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 23:44:29 GMT

charlie parker jazz festival 18 - dewey redman

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