Happy birthday Prez & Bird

Remembering Lester Young (August 27) & Charlie Parker (August 29) on their birthdays.  

Tune in to WKCR from Columbia University for their annual birthday broadcast honoring these two giants. Prez gets played all day through noon tomorrow, and then they switch to Bird for another 

36 hours(!) or so.

Movie of the Week: Charlie Parker & Lester Young

A big happy birthday week to two giants, Lester Young & Charlie Parker. Today's Movie of the Week pays tribute to both of them.

Before and After: Prisoner of Love

Before - Lester Young:


After - James Brown:

Jammin' the Blues

Thanks to a wonderful recent series of posts on Boing Boing, I was reminded of Jammin' the Blues which I first saw sometime way back in the early 90's at Film Forum. I can't remember what film I was there to see, but Jammin' the Blues was shown before the feature, and I've never forgotten it. I've owned a copy on DVD for some time now, but for some reason have never thought about finding it on youtube & sharing it.

It's amazing when you discover a film or recording that can match your imagination. Jammin' the Blues is astounding. Buy it here or here. Here it is in it's entirety: