The Charlie Parker posting has elicited a number of interesting responses, including this one from Rifftides reader Dave Lull.
The late Esther Bubley took photographs of Charlie Parker and others at a jam session. There are a few of them posted at a web site devoted to Ms Bubley, and more posted here.
From the Esther Bubley Gallery forward:
“Esther Bubley was the photographer at the Norman Granz Jam Session recording in 1952. What is really remarkable about this series of photographs is that they show Charlie in a variety of moods: attentive, jovial, exhausted, nervous, and most of all, respectful towards Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter, both of whom were Charlie’s idols. Barney Kessel said, “The odd thing, I felt more warmth and receptivity from Charlie Parker towards the others than they did to him. […] He was younger and he learned from them. They didn’t learn from him, they’d already left him a legacy; they were already established people before he’d even picked up a horn. He openly admired them”. Esther Bubley’s document of this session is genuinely unique for the photographs not only capture Charlie in the creative process, but are linked to one moment in time.”
These photographs are available in her book Charlie Parker, published in France by Editions Fillipacci, 1995.
Cordially,
Dave Lull
During my New Orleans years, Charlie Parker’s two-chorus solo on “Funky Blues” from the Jam Session album was the theme song of a radio program, Jazz Review, that I did on WDSU. When Cannonball Adderley was a guest one night, the theme came up and he vocalised it in perfect unison with Bird. If only I had cued the engineer to open Cannon’s microphone, we’d have had a classic duet recording.