[Dixielandjazz] Show to check out.

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

September 21, 2004


This is one of the coolest shows on TV...check out the episode on Charlie 
Parker's Saxophone

http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/case/211_index.html


The Place: Oakland, California
The Case: A woman owns a beautiful old alto saxophone that belonged to her 
father and according to family legend was once owned by the legendary jazz 
musician Charlie "Bird" Parker. Her late father, a white musician, told her that 
when they lived in Portland, Oregon, Charlie Parker came to a practice session 
without his horn. The story goes that when her father chided Parker for selling 
his instrument, Bird said, "If you want the horn so much, here's the pawn 
ticket." But is the story true? Did these two musicians ever meet? Would Charlie 
Parker abandon his horn? History Detectives investigates an original American 
art form and the life of a troubled musical genius.