CURRENT WEEKLY DISCOVERIES
.... from the history and world of music
ME! LIVE AT BIRDLAND
This is me...
I sang "Sweet Lorraine" on a Monday in July at Birdland, West 44th Street, New York.
CHARLIE CHRISTIAN
The first and last word in electric jazz guitar is Charlie Christian. His essential sound is well shown by this live version of "Stomping At The Savoy", at Minton's in Harlem, 1941.
Christian's fame began with a 45 minute public jam with Benny Goodman of this tune, "Rose Room":
At the same session (in October, 1939) as this studio recording of "Rose Room", the group also recorded the Christian classic "Flying Home"--Charlie wrote the tune, the brilliant famous riff, but Hampton and Goodman put their names in the sacred writers' brackets too.
The annual Metronome All Stars 1939 gathering obviously had to include Christian, as the great new discovery. Here is the All Stars recording of Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose"
Other musicians present were Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey (Dorsey meets Christian?!), and new powerhouse drum sensation Buddy Rich.
Modern jazz developed in the hot house of Minton's, and the suitably (later) titled "Swing To Bop" is a jam that illustrates the change in this music. Christian was an essential part of the change Minton's, along with the drummer Kenny Clarke and the pianist on many jams of the time, one Thelonius Monk.
Meanwhile, in his day job with Benny Goodman, Christian was making more records. Here is a jam called "Blues In B", an example of the challenges the musicians set themselves--who plays in B?
The early '40s saw some brilliant records by the Goodman Sextet, some with Count Basie at the keys. A classic is "Airmail Special":
The music here at times seems classical or impressionist.
The septet (with the Basie rhythm section) in the studio
To SEE what (most likely) happened on Christian's fret board during these records, there are these interesting Youtube clips by a current day guitar player:
http://www.jazzdisco.org/charlie-parker/discography/session-index/
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Clips: the brilliant Youtube.com
Photographs: Wikipedia/Myspace/Mymusicdiscovery
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