Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
08 Sep 2021
🖨️ Print Article
Photo: Janine Robinson
Photo: Janine Robinson

Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem

(For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)

 

Gathering witnesses bearing beautiful collisions—

Kansas City, New Orleans, Harlem—in Harlem. Only

Harlem fetes YardBird in Marcus Garvey Park. Only

Harlem has Big Easy Chief of Congo Nation do the

honors. It’s still a COVID 19 scene and Black masking’s

an act of communal resistance…

 

It’s still a COVID 19 scene and the virus’s variations

are playing “Giant Steps” within Monk’s complicated

compositions. It’s still a COVID 19 scene and greed

driven confederate governors are playing with lives;

Playing simple songs sounding like “Mississippi Hot-

dog”/“Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars and Bars…”

 

Spy Boys check Jazz Tribe temps and statuses.

They buy Big Chief time to procure and secure

Suspenders; adjust his invisible headdress and

prepare sacred songs for meeting The Peoples’ Tribe.

Charlie Parker’s music’s magic—Blues magnet gathering

grassroots, salt of the earth—Harlem’s finest—like

shavings of steel hardened by white heat and hammer

 

A drizzle decrescendos and morphs into the perfect

prelude, into micro climate mist—handing humidity a

rare defeat. The weather’s a bittersweet reminder of

Impermanence. Change—spiraling lower to higher—birth

to death; reminding us who are “Just Friends,” “Now’s

The Time” to connect—this evening’s the only time we own…

 

Older gentlemen—second wave Jitterbugs—with 

muscle memory of Lindy Hop to Bebop honor the

Moment. They select skilled younger partners to

Swing, spin, twirl; showing off middle year bodies

more beautiful than perfect: cleavage, calves and

sculpted thighs revealed as colorful knee-high skirts rise

 

Maybe they couldn’t keep Malcolm alive or hold on to

Houses grandparents paid off. But tonight they hold

on to one another—hold on to Charlie Parker—Bird

with strings attached…

 

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet;  BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at:  

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund

PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

 

Charlie Parker
Music

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Declaration of Independence (for Donald "Duck" Bailey)
15 July 2026
Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
LYRICS: Bicentennial Blues, Gil Scott-Heron, 1976
01 July 2026
“George Washington/Slave-owner general/Ironic that the father of this country/
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
SONNY
27 May 2026
Our wise Monk-guru, White winter mane and Douglass beard,Sonny's anOak tree growing outSugar Hill concrete—
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Play, Black Girl, play! (For the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s girls)
18 March 2026
“The music is the magic through a raging storm …”  — Abbey Lincoln Play, Black Girl, play —
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: In Our Hands: Thoughts on Black Music, Bernice Johnson Reagon, 1976
31 July 2024
For the late Dr.
JoeSam art
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
24 January 2024
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
Avotcja’s Love…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Avotcja’s Love…
22 March 2023
                                         
For Larry Roland
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
For Larry Roland
08 March 2023
                                         
A lil’ homegoing homage to Brother Donald…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A lil’ homegoing homage to Brother Donald…
27 April 2022
Donald Smith always performe

More Stories


  • IMF Loans Continue to Undermine Health in Africa
    Dian Maria Blandina
    IMF Loans Continue to Undermine Health in Africa
    29 Jun 2022
    The International Monetary Fund has a long history of insisting on loan conditionalities which are harmful to public services. This practice did not change even during the pandemic, with African…
  • Black Agenda Radio June 24, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 24, 2022
    24 Jun 2022
    Leftist formation wins Colombian presidential election, the effort to end involuntary servitude in U.S. prisons, the impeachment of a Black legislator in Brazil, and the nature of fascism and need…
  • Historical Pact Victory in Colombian Election
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Historical Pact Victory in Colombian Election
    24 Jun 2022
    Ajamu Baraka is National Organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace. He joins us to discuss the recent election results in Colombia where Gustavo Petro, became the new president, and Francia Marquez,…
  • Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
    24 Jun 2022
    Savannah Eldrige is the founder of Coaliton to Abolish Slavery in Texas, an organization devoted to ending involuntary servitude in that state. She is also the founder of Be Frank 4 Justice which…
  • Impeachment of Renato Freitas in Brazil
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Impeachment of Renato Freitas in Brazil
    24 Jun 2022
    Renato Freitas is a Black City Councillor in Curitiba, Brazil. He and others joined in national protests over the killing of Congolese immigrant Mugenyi Kabagambe, who was beaten to death after…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us