In his book Jazz Modernism, Alfred Appel recounts the colorful, true story of a moment shared between Charlie Parker and Igor Stravinsky at New York's Birdland jazz club.
It's a Saturday night in the winter of 1951. The house is full, Charlie Parker's band is cookin' on the stage, and unbeknownst to the leader, Stravinsky is in the audience, listening attentively.
The author vividly describes how Bird, immediately upon recognizing the celebrity composer at one of the front tables, begins to pepper his solo with brilliant interpolations of "The Firebird Suite," causing Stravinsky to smile broadly, pound his cocktail glass on the table and "roar with delight."
I love this story!
As someone who appreciates music across many genres, I'm delighted but not surprised to learn that Stravinsky and Parker, both icons within their respective musical traditions, not only admired but actively listened to each other's work.
Such an attitude of openness and mutual respect is typical among master musicians. Explorers by nature, great artists rarely concern themselves with labels or limits. Instead they change history by transcending the very disciplines they master, becoming what Duke Ellington called "beyond category."
How wonderful, too, that both Stravinsky and Parker, though towering geniuses of modern music, shared a playful sense of humor! The lesson: creative maturity means a childlike enthusiasm for whatever comes next.
~DM