Friday, May 1, 2015

Image of the Day: Chasin' the Bird

Charlie Parker unpacking his alto saxophone in Royal Roost, New York City. Probably March, 1949.

Symphony Sid Torin: "I like to, I'd like for everybody to meet a gentleman and, gentleman that I think, well, you all ought to know, because he's our next heavyweight champion of the world, Ezzard Charles. Ladies and gentlemen, Ezzard Charles... Thanks for comin' down, man. There he is, our next heavyweight champ of the world. And everybody falls down to the Royal Roost, where you sit back and relax and dig the gone sounds and the gone people. How 'bout that, Ezzard? We keep right on going, and here's another one of the great things, one I hope you really enjoy, ah, should we do that one? 'Chasin' the Bird' or 'Carvin' the Bird'?"

Charlie Parker: "Chasin'"

Symphony Sid: "Chasin' or Carvin'?"

Parker: [more emphatically] "Chasing."

Symphony Sid: "All right, he says 'Chasin' the Bird', so let's go with the Bird and 'Chasing the Bird'."

 

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