Making Moves with Dizzy Gillespie & His Orchestra

A Happy Birthday to Dizzy Gillespie!

Show description for Sunday 10/23/2011 @ 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

This afternoon we will focus on the contributions of the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Orchestra. As part of these efforts, we will also explore the music recorded by Charlie Parker as featured soloist with Machito & His Orchestra, including Mango Mangue, as well as Okidoke. In bringing attention to this period, the great composer, arranger Tadd Dameron will also be featured, including his earliest efforts with Harlan Leonard, the small groups featuring Fats Navarro, and the neglected masterwork, The Magic Touch, recorded for Riverside. Along the way we will hear poetry from Countee Cullen, Gwendolyn Brooks, Claude McKay, Margaret Walker, Sterling Brown, and Langston Hughes. (Pictured at right, Harriet Tubman)

Runagate Runagate

by Robert Hayden

I.

Runs falls rises stumbles on from darkness into darkness

and the darkness thicketed with shapes of terror

and the hunters pursuing and the hounds pursuing

and the night cold and the night long and the river

to cross and the jack-muh-lanterns beckoning beckoning

and blackness ahead and when shall I reach that somewhere

morning and keep on going and never turn back and keep on going

Runagate

Runagate

Runagate

Many thousands rise and go

many thousands crossing over

O mythic North

O star-shaped yonder Bible city

Some go weeping and some rejoicing

some in coffins and some in carriages

some in silks and some in shackles

Rise and go or fare you well

No more auction block for me

no more driver’s lash for me

If you see my Pompey, 30 yrs of age,

new breeches, plain stockings, negro shoes;

if you see my Anna, likely young mulatto

branded E on the right cheek, R on the left,

catch them if you can and notify subscriber.

Catch them if you can, but it won’t be easy.

They’ll dart underground when you try to catch them,

plunge into quicksand, whirlpools, mazes,

turn into scorpions when you try to catch them.

And before I’ll be a slave

I’ll be buried in my grave

North star and bonanza gold

I’m bound for the freedom, freedom-bound

and oh Susyanna don’t you cry for me

Runagate

Runagate

II.

Rises from their anguish and their power,

Harriet Tubman,

woman of earth, whipscarred,

a summoning, a shining

Mean to be free

And this was the way of it, brethren brethren,

way we journeyed from Can’t to Can.

Moon so bright and no place to hide,

the cry up and the patterollers riding,

hound dogs belling in bladed air.

And fear starts a-murbling, Never make it,

we’ll never make it. Hush that now,

and she’s turned upon us, levelled pistol

glinting in the moonlight:

Dead folks can’t jaybird-talk, she says;

you keep on going now or die, she says.

Wanted Harriet Tubman alias The General

alias Moses Stealer of Slaves

In league with Garrison Alcott Emerson

Garrett Douglas Thoreau John Brown

Armed and known to be Dangerous

Wanted Reward Dead or Alive

Tell me, Ezekiel, oh tell me do you see

mailed Jehovah coming to deliver me?

Hoot-owl calling in the ghosted air,

five times calling to the hants in the air.

Shadow of a face in the scary leaves,

shadow of a voice in the talking leaves:

Come ride-a my train

Oh that train, ghost-story train

through swamp and savanna movering movering,

over trestles of dew, through caves of the wish,

Midnight Special on a sabre track movering movering,

first stop Mercy and the last Hallelujah.

Come ride-a my train

Mean mean mean to be free.

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View Past Shows

	Artist	Song	Album	Label
	Countee Cullen	Heritage	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	Dizzy Gillespie featuring Chano Pozo	Minor Walk	Dizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2	RCA - France
	Dizzy Gillespie featuring Chano Pozo	Cubana Be Cubana Bop	Dizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2	RCA - France
	Machito & His Orchestra featuring Charlie Parker	Mango Mangue	Afro-Cuban Jazz	Verve
	Langston Hughes	the Negro Speaks of Rivers	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	Langston Hughes	I, Too	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	James Moody	Cu-Ba	James Moody & His Modernists	Blue Note
	Tadd Dameron Septet	Jahbero	Tadd Dameron Septet	Blue Note
	Bud Powell Trio	Un Poco Loco	The Amazing Bud Powell	Blue Note
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Margaret Walker	For My People	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra	Things to Come	Bebop	New World Records
	Kenny Clarke & His 52nd St. Boys	Royal Roost	Jazz In Revolution	New World Records
	Machito & His Orchestra featuring Charlie Parker	Okidoke	Afro-Cuban Jazz	Verve
	Dizzy Gillespie featuring Chano Pozo	Algo Bueno (Woody'n You)	Dizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2	RCA - France
	Modern Jazz Quartet	Woody'n You	Nica's Dream	New World Records
	Gwendolyn Brooks	The Preacher Ruminates	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	Gwendolyn Brooks	The Children of the Poor	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	Charles Mingus	Ysabels' Table Dance	Tijuana Moods	RCA
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Woody Herman & His Orchestra	Lemon Drop	Bebop	New World Records
	Elliott Lawrence	Elevation	Jazz In Revolution	New World Records
	Dizzy Gillespie featuring Kenny Hagood	Ool Ya Koo	Dizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2	RCA - France
	James Moody	Tropicana	James Moody & His Modernists	Blue Note
	Tadd Dameron	On A Misty Night	The Magic Touch	Riverside
	Sarah Vaughn	A Ship Without A Sail	Great Songs From Hit Shows Volume 2	Mercury
	Sarah Vaughn	He's Only Wonderful	Great Songs From Hit Shows Volume 2	Mercury
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Dizzy Gillespie	Groovin' High	In The Beginning	Prestige
	Tadd Dameron featuring Barbara Winfield	If You Could See Me Now	The Magic Touch	Riverside
	Sterling Brown	Long Gone	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	Dodo Marmarosa Trio	Mellow Mood	Jazz In Revolution	New World Records
	Charlie Parker	Relaxin' at Camarillo	Bebop	New World Records
	Dexter Gordon - Wardell Gray Quintet	The Chase Part 1 & 2	Jazz In Revolution	New World Records
	Claude McKay	St. Issac's Church	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	Claude McKay	The Tropics in New York	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	Claude McKay	Intro / If We Must Die	Anthology of Negro Poets	Folkways
	Randy Weston	Con Alma	African Nite	Inner City
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Harlan Leonard & His Rockets	A-La-Bridges	Jazz In Revolution	New World Records
	Dizzy Gillespie featuring Chano Pozo	Good Bait	Dizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2	RCA - France
	Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker	Hot House	In the Beginning	Prestige
	Tadd Dameron	Dial B for Beauty	The Arranger's Touch	Prestige
	Tadd Dameron	You're A Joy	The Magic Touch	Riverside
	Tadd Dameron	Swift as the Wind	The Magic Touch	Riverside
	Dizzy Gillespie featuring Joe Carroll	Jump-Did-Le-Ba	Dizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2	RCA - France
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Sarah Vaughn	Embraceable You	Sarah Vaughn	Emarcy

This is a song for the genius child

Show description for Sunday 3/27/2011 @ 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Genius Child

---

This is a song for the genius child.
Sing it softly, for the song is wild.
Sing it softly as ever you can -
Lest the song get out of hand.

Nobody loves a genius child.

Can you love an eagle,
Tame or wild?
Can you love an eagle,
Wild or tame?
Can you love a monster
Of frightening name?

Nobody loves a genius child.

Kill him - and let his soul run wild.

Langston Hughes

Missed the Show?

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	Artist	Song	Album	Label
	Sonny Clark Trio	Bebop	Sonny Clark Trio	Blue Note
	Sonny Clark Trio	Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise	Sonny Clark Trio	Blue Note
	Sonny Clark Trio	I'll Remember April	Sonny Clark Trio	Blue Note
	Abbey Lincoln	Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise	Abbey Is Blue	Riverside
	Abbey Lincoln	Lost In The Stars	Abbey Is Blue	Riverside
	Sheila Jordan	When The World Was Young	Portrait Of Sheila	Blue Note
	Sheila Jordan	Let's Face The Music And Dance	Portrait Of Sheila	Blue Note
	Sheila Jordan	Hum Drum Blues	Portrait Of Sheila	Blue Note
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Kenny Dorham	Blue Spring Shuffle	Quiet Kenny	New Jazz
	Kenny Dorham	I Had The Craziest Dream	Quiet Kenny	New Jazz
	Tommy Flanagan Trio	Delarna	Overseas	Prestige
	Tommy Flanagan Trio	Relaxin At Camarillo	Overseas	Prestige
	Jack Kerouac	San Francisco Scene	Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation	Verve
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Slim Gaillard All-Stars	Slim's Jam	Charlie Parker Memorial Album	Savoy
	Charlie Parker Quintet	Klaunstance	Charlie Parker Memorial Album	Savoy
	Charlie Parker Quintet	Barbados	Charlie Parker Memorial Album	Savoy
	Charlie Parker Quintet	Merry-Go-Round	Charlie Parker Memorial Album	Savoy
	Charlie Parker Quintet	Koko	Charlie Parker Memorial Album	Savoy
	Charlie Parker Quintet	Warming Up A Riff	Charlie Parker Memorial Album	Savoy
	Dizzy Gillespie	Oo-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee	Groovin' High	Savoy
	Dizzy Gillespie	On The Sunny Side Of The Street	School Days	Savoy
	Dizzy Gillespie	Oh, Lady Be Good!	School Days	Savoy
	Langston Hughes	Blues Montage	The Weary Blues	Verve
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Eddie Jefferson	Birdland Story	Eddie Jefferson	Savoy
	Eddie Jefferson	Body & Soul	Eddie Jefferson	Savoy
	Annie Ross	The Way You Look Tonight	Annie Ross	Savoy
	Annie Ross	Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea	Annie Ross	Savoy
	Lambert Hendricks & Ross	Twisted	Lambert Hendricks & Ross	Columbia
	Babs Gonzalez	A Manhattan Fable	Tales of Manhattan: The Cool Philosophy of Babs Gonzales	Jaro
	William Parker Organ Quartet	The Struggle	Uncle Joe's Spirit House	Centering Music
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Declared Enemy	Black Panthers	Salute To 100001 Stars: A Tribute to Jean Genet	Rogue Art
	Declared Enemy	Abdallah	Salute To 100001 Stars: A Tribute to Jean Genet	Rogue Art
	Darius Jones & Matthew Shipp	Motherboxx	Cosmic Lieder	AUM-Fidelity
	Darius Jones & Matthew Shipp	Black Lightening	Cosmic Lieder	AUM-Fidelity
	Odean Pope	Custody Of The American Spirit	Universal Sounds	Porter
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Neil Young	You And Me	Harvest Moon	Reprise
	Neil Young	Harvest Moon	Harvest Moon	Reprise

Charlie Parker by Frank Marshall Davis

Charlie Parker



Who named him Yard Bird?
He was a homing pigeon
With no home to fly to

Sky unlimited
Route uncharted
Eagle strong
He scorched his wings
Haunting the heavens
Buzzing the sun
As the feebler fowl
Looked up in awe
But played it safe

In the rambling sky
He lived!
Here he rendezvoused
With freedom
Flashing feathers
Of burning blue
Dipping, darting
In strange and wild
Ecstatic arcs
Dazzling with his daring
Flying
As none before had ever flown

Even as eagle tires
And returns to his airy crag
A homing pigeon
Cannot soar forever
But this majestic bird
Had no home
To go to;
Helpless
On the ground
He wandered aimlessly
Pecking in the garbage
Like a common sparrow
With a weary wing
And he was trapped
And hooked
And cooked -
That's the simple story
Of the heaven - haunting pigeon
Who flew his way to glory

I. Reed, Yardbird, Katrina 5 Years On

Show description for Sunday 8/29/2010 @ 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE PARKER!

This afternoon, on the four o'clock hour, poet, playwright, essayist, and novelist, Ishmael Reed (pictured here, on the left, with Professor William C. Cook), returns to New Day Jazz. Along with the current events of the day, such as Wall $treet's financiers turning against Obama, neo-fascist demagogue and Fox News commentator, Glenn Beck, and midtown Manhattan's proposed Muslim Cultural Center, we will be discussing the forthcoming American Book Awards. Sponsored by the Before Columbus Foundation, of which Mr. Reed is a founder, the American Book Award, now in it's 31st year, honors excellence in multicultural literature.

Also, as part of this afternoon's broadcast, we will listen in on selections from the rare boxed set, issued in Japan only, The Other Side Of Blue Note 1500 Series, featuring outtakes and unissued cuts from classic sessions under the leadership of Lee Morgan, Herbie Nichols, Johnny Griffin, Bud Powell, and Bennie Green featuring the one and only Babs Gonzalez.

In addition, we will be focusing on the poetry of Jayne Cortez and Kenneth Patchen, throughout today's program, with particular attention on the recordings, Celebrations & Solitudes, featuring Ms. Cortez with bassist Richard Davis, and Selected Poems of Kenneth Patchen, recorded by Patchen himself for Folkways Records.

New Day Jazz

Justin Desmangles

Jazz music for lovers and the lonely.

Genre

Jazz

Missed the Show?

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View Past Shows

View Upcoming Shows

	Artist	Song	Album	Label
	Jayne Cortez	Solo	Celebrations & Solitudes	Strata-East
	Lee Morgan	All At Once You Love Her	The Other Side of Blue Note 1500 Series	Blue Note - Japan
	Charlie Parker	Merry Go Round	The Complete Savoy Recordings	Savoy
	Kenneth Patchen	Nice Day For A Lynching	The Selected Poems Of Kenneth Patchen	Folkways
	Bennie Green	Soul Stirrin'	The Other Side of Blue Note 1500 Series	Blue Note - Japan
	Jayne Cortez	3 Day N.Y. City Blues	Celebrations & Solitudes	Strata-East
	Kenneth Patchen	State Of The Nation	The Selected Poems Of Kenneth Patchen	Folkways
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Herbie Nichols	Argumentative Variation	The Other Side of Blue Note 1500 Series	Blue Note - Japan
	Charlie Parker	Koko	The Complete Savoy Recordings	Savoy
	Charlie Parker	Barbados	The Complete Savoy Recordings	Savoy
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Jayne Cortez	Do You Think?	Celebrations & Solitudes	Strata-East
	Bud Powell	Collard Greens & Blackeyed Peas	The Other Side of Blue Note 1500 Series	Blue Note - Japan
	Paul Chambers	Untitled	The Other Side of Blue Note 1500 Series	Blue Note - Japan
========================== Airbreak ==========================
	Kenny Burrell	My Heart Stood Still	The Other Side of Blue Note 1500 Series	Blue Note - Japan
	Kenny Burrell	You Will Never Know (excerpt)	The Other Side of Blue Note 1500 Series	Blue Note - Japan
	Interview with Ishmael Reed by Justin Desmangles
	Charlie Parker	Relaxin' at Camarillo	The Complete Dial Masters

Billie's Detour (Dedicated to a genius)

Here is a recent play-list from a broadcast at KDVS in Davis, Ca. I was very graciously joined at the end of the show by the great pianist Matthew Shipp and poet Steve Dalachinsky. The version of Day Dream at the start of the show was the original recording. I followed it with a very interesting arrangement of the Strayhorn composition by pianist Dick Katz for Helen Merrill from the Milestone album, The Feeling Is Mutual. This very fine record has just recently been reissued by Mosaic as a CD with the other album Ms. Merrill recorded with the Katz group for Milestone. The highlight of the show, for me, was the 1951 recording by Billie Holiday of Detour Ahead. From her only session for Alladdin, accompanied by the Tiny Grimes Sextet, the lyric and delivery thereof, have Lady Day at her existential best! Also on this show was the always astounding Mingus Sextet of 1964. This particular group featured Eric Dolphy on alto sax, Johnny Coles at the trumpet, Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, Jaki Byard on piano and Dannie Richmond, of course, on drums. I played the relatively scarce double album Concertgebouw Amsterdam April 10th 1964. I chose Ow (Dedicated to a genius), which is an homage to Charlie Parker. Though I played some Bird before this cut, and even the original Anthropology from Dizzy Gillespie and Don Byas, I realized a musical ambiance more conducive to Ow (Dedicated to a genius) could have been created. I think in the future I will do a show only on Bird and his music concluding with this Mingus masterpiece. As Mingus said at the time, "We're trying to make him live a little bit, here."


Day Dream - Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra
Day Dream - Helen Merrill & Dick Katz
Deep In A Dream - Helen Merrill (duet with Jim Hall)
Something To Remember You By - Thad Jones (duet with Kenny Burrell)
Billie Holiday - Detour Ahead
Billie Holiday - Be Fair To Me Baby
Billie Holiday - Blue Turning Grey Over You
Johnny Griffin Quartet - I Remember You
Louis Smith - Au Privave
Annie Ross - This Time's The Dreams On Me
Annie Ross - Let There Be Love
Chet Baker & Art Pepper - Resonant Emotions
The Metronome All-Stars - Victory Ball
Dizzy Gillespie Sextet - Anthropology
Charles Mingus Sextet - Ow (Dedicated to a genius)
Matthew Shipp Trio - Light
Matthew Shipp & Steve Dalachinsky Interview Part 1
Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - The Clothed Woman
Matthew Shipp & Steve Dalachinsky Interview Part 2
Matthew Shipp Trio - When The Curtain Falls On The Jazz Theatre

Happy Birthday Lenny Bruce, We Miss You Terribly

Dear Lenny,

We sure could use you these days. You turned out to be right about just about everything. I am not sure that's a good thing. I do know I wish more people had listened, and that those who did had listened a lot closer. You wouldn't believe what's going on these days. Or maybe you would, seeing as you all but predicted it. Remember that joke you made in Berkeley? The one about the church being like a franchise? A Howard Johnson's I think you said. The real reason why we were in Vietnam. Well now its Iraq. Robbing the cradle of civilization. I am sure you'd have a riff on that. You were one of the few geniuses of our age. You showed us ourselves in a stark yet forgiving light. That word "genius" though, not funny is it? That was another thing you demonstrated, that word is not an accolade. It is, as it was with Bird, with Mingus, another of society's labels for "danger-danger." The sacrifice you made! My lord, you gave everything for freedom, and the dignity of truth unadorned. It's your birthday today and I just really wanted to say thanks somehow. Thanks to Sally Marr, too. Hey man, I know this is small, too small a thanks for all you have done. I will work on something more and get back at you. But for now, happy birthday Lenny!

Justin Desmangles

Bob's Bird

Chasing The Bird

The sun sets unevenly and the people
go to bed.

The night has a thousand eyes.
The clouds are low, overhead.

Every night it is a little bit
more difficult, a little

harder. My mind
to me a mangle is.





- Robert Creeley

Bird's Ecstasy Part Two

And so it was then, the man and the message that rewired America and thus the world. The joy and the ferocious wonder of it all that surrounds. I could hear this now. Ah, Bird was an ecstatic! This really being the key revelation that opened up the musics many worlds. And quickly I began to understand that his improvisation was a much a response to the architecture of a given composition as it was, and perhaps more especially, the total environment. The man and his times, our times, times changing, those changes, too. And with this "serious fun," this humor that laughs to keep from lies, hews cries and sighs, always the buoyant and propulsive swing. And of course among the many musical personae projected from the bell of his horn came the masks retained of African ancestors. Indeed, the complex poly-rhythms which served as vehicles of his imaginative export were inherited directly through Africans in the New World. So Bird's joy was also one of memory and as it must be with us, "a memory that will not sleep." Once I began to hear this, just as suddenly, it was everywhere. Thousands of other musics, not all jazz, became enlivened with these insights. What it is, what it ain't, what it ought to be. Looking forward looking back, Now Is The Time.

Bird's Ecstasy Part One

For many years I listened to Bird without, I believe, really hearing him. Like a lot of us I began with the recordings on Dial. The Eastwood film had recently been released and there were a slew of reissues. Warner had put out a modest double record set including the full session that produced Yardbird Suite. Included was a booklet that reproduced a number of paintings for Bird. Among these were works by Romare Bearden, Larry Rivers and Raymond Saunders. I was intrigued and deeply moved by the inspiration the music had offered these artists. Still, it wasn't until a few years later that I had the glorious encounter that was, for me, hearing Bird for the first time. I remember it well. I had been living in Seattle for a only a few months when I happened upon a record store that stocked a wall of jazz vinyl. There under his leader card was the Savoy long player, Charlie Parker Memorial record. You know the one, with the introduction from Al Collins? I would gaze at the record each time I came in. There he was, The Bird, in Glen plaid and a bow tie, blowing above a teal blue background. In flight. Finally after a few more months of saving, I had enough to buy this scarce collectors item. Nothing could have prepared me for what I heard that day. A strange mercurial light seemed to emanate from his horn, illuminating the world around me in strange and beguiling ways. Koko!