'Anthropology' - Charlie Parker Flashcards
Who was Charlie ‘Yardbird’ Parker
- Charlie Parker was one of the most important and influential saxophonists and jazz players of the 1940s.
- He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, where Jazz, blues and gospel music were flourishing. His first contact with music came at school, where he played baritone horn with the school’s band.
- When he was 15, he showed a great interest in music and a love for the alto saxophone. Parker played with local brands until 1935 when he left school to pursue a music career.
- Early on he acquired the nickname ‘Yardbird’; this may have been because he enjoyed eating chicken, which was called yardbird, but there is no clear reason for this.
- In 1939, Parker visited New York for the first time, and he stayed for nearly a year working as a professional musician and often participating in jam sessions.
- The New York atmosphere greatly influenced Parker’s musical style. Unfortunately during this time, he developed addictions to drugs and alcohol, and these were a major factor in his untimely death before his 35th birthday.
The Year 1945 was extremely important for Parker, why?
- During that time he led his own group in New York and also worked with Gillespie in several ensembles. In December, Parker and Gillespie took their music to Hollywood on a six-week nightclub tour.
- Parker continued to perform in Los Angeles until June 1946, when he suffered a nervous breakdown and was confined at a state hospital.
- After his release in January 1947, Parker returned to New York and formed a quintet that performed some of his most famous tunes.
March 5, 1995 was what?
March 5, 1955, was Parker’s last public engagement at Birdland, a nightclub in New York that was named in his honour. He ded a week later in a friends apartment.
Summary of Parker
Charles ‘Yardbird’ Parker was an amazing saxophonist who gained worldwide recognition for his brilliant solos and innovative improvisations. He was, without a doubt, one of the most influential and talented musicians in jazz history.
John Birks ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie
- Gillespie, along with Charlie Parker, ushered in the era of Bebop in the American jazz tradition. He was born Cheraw, South Carolina, and was the youngest of nine children. He began playing piano at the age of four and received a music scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina.
- Most noted for his trademark ‘swollen cheeks’, Gillespie admitted to copying the style of trumpeter Roy Eldridge early in his career.
- Gillespie was known as one of the founding fathers of the Afro-Cuban and Latin Jazz tradition.
People who commonly collaborated with Dizzy
- Chano Pozo (the great Afro-Cuban percussionist
- Danilo Perez, a master pianist and composer
- Arturo Sandoval, trumpeter, composer and music educator.
- David Sanchez, saxophonist and composer.
- Chucho Valdes, an Afro-Cuban virtuoso pianist and composer.
Indeed, many Latin jazz classics such as ‘Manteca, A Night in Tunisia’ and ‘Guachi Guara’ were composed by Gillespie and his musical collaborators.
Background to the composition;
- Like many Bebop tunes, ‘Anthropology’ was written as a contract, which is a melody written using the harmonic progression from an earlier composition.
- Many Bebop tunes were written this way and many took their inspiration from compositions written in the 1930s.
- ‘Anthropology’ is written using the chord progression from the song ‘I’ve Got Rhythm’. This progression was known as ‘rhythm changes’ (jazz musicians refer to chords as ‘changes’). Many Bebop tunes were written on this harmonic progression including ‘Moose the Mooche’ and ‘Oleo’. This tune was formerly known as ‘Thriving on a Riff’, but was later named ‘Anthropology’.
Personnel in the recording;
Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet) Charlie Parker (alto saxophone) Bud powell (piano) Tommy Potter (bass) Roy Haynes (drums)
Recorded at ‘Birdland’, NYC, March 31, 1951. This live recording features many of Bebop’s greatest exponents.
The Music: Form
AABA (32 bars)
Tonality:
Bb Major
Harmonic Progression:
As stated earlier, this composition is based on the chords from the composition ‘I’ve got rhythm’. It features a progression in the B section.
Melody:
- Authorship is usually credited jointly to both Parker and Gillespie.
- Certainly there are ‘Parkerisms’ throughout this melody: the ‘Moose the Mooche’ rhythm in bar 2 and the syncopated feel of bar 14, the turnaround pattern in bars 7-8, the ‘Ornithology’ reference in bars 17, 23 and 24.
- If Dizzy Gillespie wrote any part of the melody, it is difficult from the evidence given to see what his contribution was.
- Nevertheless, they are cited as joint composers.
Arrangement and analysis of Bars 1-7
Bars 1-4 : Drum introduction played by Roy Haynes. Piano or drum introductions were common in Bebop arrangements.
Bars 5-6 : The melody outlines the strong notes from the
Bb major chord in the first half of bar 5 and then surrounds the 3rd degree with a surrounding technique. Bar 6 is a rhythm taken from ‘Moose the Mooche’ another Parker melody/solo.
Bar 7 : The chords given are Dmi7 and G7, but it looks as if the melody is written over a Bbmaj7 chord given the note choices and complete lack of identifying anything from Dmin or G7. ‘Moose the Mooche’, written before ‘Anthropology’ shows only a Bbmaj7 chord in that bar. The rhythm section on the recording certainly sounds as if it is playing Dmin and G7 but the melody certainly seems to only be using a Bb major chord.
Arrangement and Analysis of Bar 8 - 12
Bar 8-9 : Melody outlines Cmin7 and then anticipates the 3rd degree of F. Then there is another anticipation of the Bb major chord (held over Bb note). Anticipations were a big part of the characteristics of Bebop soloing and melody writing.
Bar 10 : Another anticipation using the tension of the blues note E natural leads to a resolution to the tonic Eb. The second half of the bar can be seen as an Eb minor chord or an Ab7 chord. Both are appropriate chord substitutions and additions in the context of the harmonic progression of rhymehm changes in the Bebop era.
Bar 11-12 : The first half of this bar looks like the melody is written again thinking only Bb major not D minor as written on the lead sheet. The second half features another surrounding technique heading into bar 12 with the 5th degree of C minor. Bar 12 is a Cmin7 arpeggio to the 13th (or 6th) to the tonic in F wiht a pick-up F to repeat the A section.
Arrangement and Analysis of Bar 13 -14
Bar 13;
The tension created by the Eb is released by the repeated D natural. Beat 3 and 4 can be seen as another tension or it can be seen as outlining a G7 augmented which is sometimes played in this bar.
Bar 14;
This can be seen as being a Cmin7 for a beat, F7 for a beat and Bbmaj7 for two beats. The note choices suit this harmonic progression far better than simply being Bb major. It certainly sounds as if the rhythm section are utilising these chords rather than just Bb major. Bar 14 is repeated in many places in the melody.
