Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra) | Black Agenda Report

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

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.

Music

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

More Stories

Tea Troutman , Sherronda J. Brown
The Southern Truth About Communism
15 May 2024
One cannot begin to understand the story of Southern resistance without recognizing the role of communism in the struggle.
Sharon Zhang
As Israel Begins ‘Final Phase’ of Genocide, Biden Slams Pro-Palestine Protests
15 May 2024
Just two months ago, Biden said that the invasion of Rafah is a “red line” Israel must not cross.
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio May 10, 2024
10 May 2024
This week, we discuss a lawsuit filed by incarcerated people in Alabama, asking the state to end involuntary servitude and the crackdown on student protests, abortion rights, and a rogue…
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
March on the DNC Will Center Palestine Solidarity
10 May 2024
We’re joined by Faayani Aboma Mijana and Hatem Abudayyeh. They discuss plans for mobilization during the Democratic National Convention and why it will focus on Palestine.
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Incarcerated Workers in Alabama File Lawsuit to End Involuntary Servitude
10 May 2024
Six incarcerated people in the state of Alabama have filed a lawsuit against their governor and the Commissioner of Corrections. Jessica Vosburgh with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which…