Jazz for aficionados

In order to understand modern jazz, it's essential to understand the people who created it. Jazz changed dramatically after Charles "Yardbird" Parker, even the "swing" musicians changed; they fell under "Birds" magic spell. You can hear how different jazz musicians who were playing before "Bird" sounded after they came under his spell.

The fact that he was a drug addict is well known, but he always warned others when they asked about that part of his life "Do as I say, not as I do". Since many jazz musicians were drug addicts, many people associated jazz with drugs, not accepting the fact that the majority of jazz musicians wouldn't touch the stuff. By the way, I'm referring to "hard drugs", as you know, marijuana is legal now, which means it never was that bad.

Some of the very best and most gifted jazz musicians were heroin addicts, but that fact detracted from how great they could have been if they never touched the stuff. As stupid as it sounds, there are those who think that was the secret to their greatness. I believe they would have been drug addicts whether they were musicians or not. The causes of drug addiction are in the realm of the social and psychiatric scientists.

While he's best known for "Be-Bop", "Charlie Parker With Strings" is his endearing and lasting legacy. It sounds just as beautiful to me now, as it did the first day I heard it, which was more years ago than I care to count.



"Dancing in the Dark" (Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz) - 3:10
"Out of Nowhere" (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman) - 3:06
"Laura" (David Raksin, Mercer) - 2:57
"East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)" (Brooks Bowman) - 3:37
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) - 3:17
"Easy to Love" (Cole Porter) - 3:29
"I'm in the Mood for Love" (Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields) - 3:33
"I'll Remember April" (Gene de Paul, Pat Johnston, Don Raye) - 3:02


Each one of those tunes is so out of this world, that there is no way I could pick one and call it my favorite, therefore, I will pick two, "Laura" and "I'll Remember April".


            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmm9u8dPU4A


            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FRyFbUBiZg


           

OP,
You were right about the deleter in chief.   They delete the post that I copied from another post.   That original post still stands.

Makes you wonder what is the point in posting, if the censors in the politburo have the last word.

Cheers

Rok, you never spoke truer words, and you must have read my mind when you spoke them.


I sense that the censor is a one trick pony, and if the post does not apply to his trick, or go along with his way of thinking, he deletes it.

I hope they will not delete this .
These ARE as true clips as you will ever hear .  And every American should hear them .

https://youtu.be/Biuu11p_TEI?t=5


https://youtu.be/lrA4V6YF6SA?t=1