Kenny G on Charlie Parker

[Captain Bacardi]

If anyone needed another reason to despise Kenny G, here it is. This is from an interview from the Barnes & Noble website, with Ted Panken giving the interview. According to Kenny G, this is how jazz legend Charlie Parker got his nickname of "Bird". It's truly incredible:

Kenny G: "Nobody played faster and more clean than him. Except that there was another saxophone player named Sonny Stitt. He was actually an almost exact duplicate of Charlie Parker, except he played it even cleaner. Charlie Parker would squeak a lot, and that's why they called him Bird, because his reed would chirp."

Panken: "You think that's why they called him Bird? That's interesting."

Kenny G: "That is why why they called him Bird. That was the deal. He played so fast, and his reed would chirp because of it...I don't know, it just couldn't take the speed of his fingers. But Sonny Stitt used to do it without the chirping thing, and played beautiful. But I don't think he ever got the same accolades that Charlie Parker did, mainly because Charlie Parker was the first one."

Gary Giddins offered this about Kenny G:

"The origin of Kenny's 'G' is likewise subject to theories: that he only plays in the key of G; that he is the lost son of Matthew Gee; that he has a G-spot; that he was conceived in a Petrie dish from genomes; that when told a farcical story he nods his head and murmurs "Geeeee". The truth may never be known."

This is all part of the new issue of Jazztimes magazine. Entertaining reading to say the least!


Capt. Bacardi

 

[DAN BOLTON]

Might I add that "G" is the first letter of ..."GAAAAAACCKKKKK", a sound I make ever time I hear him play...it's a gag reflex. Every time I over eat, I just listen to some Kenny G...I save a lot of money on antacids that way...the food isn't in my stomach long enough to cause any harm...


Dan, suggesting that Kenny call his next album MAALOX MOMENTS...that is, if Charlie Parker's family doesn't sue for defamation of character and wipe him out...

 

[cakeicer]

I have read two meanings of the nickname "Bird" in reference to Charlie Parker, one saying a chicken once hit his car and he took it home and cooked it, his friends then called him "Yardbird" and the second says that it was because he lived "Free as a bird."
Kenny G, could it mean "Gawd awful noise?"
Good Grief!!

 

[Rudy]

From the All About Jazz website:

Parker, Charlie --- Bird, Yardbird

Early in his career, Charlie was dubbed "Yardbird" because of his love for chicken. The nickname stuck and was eventually shortened to "Bird." (Original entry.)

According to one version, he and his band (including employer Jay McShann) were driving to town when a chicken ran out into the road. Upon hitting the bird, Charlie got out, picked it up and took it all the way to their destination to get it cooked up. Hence, the musicians called him Yardbird, which was later shortened to "Yard" or "Bird".

Or, from Duke University:

Since chicken is a "yardbird" and he was quite fond of fried chicken, such began the nickname, Charlie "Yardbird" Parker.
So goes one version.
Or, because he liked to play like a bird, and/or he lived as free as a bird, he became known as Charlie "Bird" Parker.
Or,
According to Last of the Blue Devils, the fine film on Kansas City jazz and its players, Charlie Parker's "Yardbird"
nickname came as a result of a road trip the Jay McShann band took Kansas City to Lincoln, Nebraska. Nearing Lincoln,
a car struck a chicken that had wondered onto the road from a nearby farmyard. Witnessing this were some of the band,
including Parker, who said, "Stop the car, I want that yardbird". Whereupon, after retrieving the dead chicken,
Parker had it cooked that evening at the boarding house where the band stayed in Lincoln.
Choose your favorite version.

Kenny G....Gee, what an @$$hole! I don't know what's worse--Kenny G talking about something he has no knowledge of (jazz, music, talent), or the stupid interviewer for taking it as fact!!

 

[Ed Bishop]

Well, I'll be: a Kenny G reference! Who woulda thunk.... Charlie Parker fan, huh? Wow. You'd never know it by his playin'....

Better question: why would any media person ask Kenny G anything music-related....

ED

 

[Rudy]

Or better yet, does the media person know Kenny G. from Charlie P.? (Visions of the blind leading the blind here...)