[Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 94, Issue 8

[dmf 273 <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx>]

>
> JERSIMUSE WROTE:
>
> When you play with our old friend Charlie, you are imposed Charlie Parker’s
> very particular swing, very precise rhythm.
>
> You are also obliged to respect the exact same articulations on each single
> note because at this speed, any tiny difference will lead you to be off
> rhythm.
>
> So being able to play each single note exactly at the same time as him
> implies a tremendous amount of work.
>
> Playing the licks is not the most difficult. Getting the exact same swing
> is the real challenge to my opinion.
>

Jersimuse did an amazing job of playing along with Bird, at tempo on a
Richter diatonic.   I doff my virtual cap to him!   And, having attempted to
play along with Bird myself on various chromatic and altered tuned harps,  I
know exactly what he's talking about when he says the hardest part is
mimicking Bird's sense of swing.    Bird's rhythms can be maddeningly
tricky.  They are so perfectly logical and yet, at the same time so
perfectly unpredictable!   Even if you are expecting the unexpected you will
still be surprised.   The timing of when he begins, when he ends, where he
rises, where he falls, where he twists, turns and teases - is all of a
divine cloth different than anything mere mortals can conceive.   Dizzy
Gillespie himself said that Bird's greatest gift was his sense of rhythm.

And yet, as Jersimuse proves, it is possible to mimic and ride along with
the Bird on his rollercoaster at least for a few brief moments, even on a
lowly Richter harp!    And when you do hitch along on that ride. even if
only for a few fleeting moments before you fall off,  I can tell you from
personal experience,  it's a joyous thrill that will make you want to try
again and again and again!

BIRD LIVES!

(And you can listen to the complete works of Charlie Parker in chronological
order every weekday morning at 8:20 AM Eastern Time on WKCR - Columbia
University Internet radio.   I do!)