[Dixielandjazz] Small World - Full Circle

[Steve Barbone]

Some on the List know that I was acquainted with Charlie Parker and his
common law wife Chan Richardson in the early 1950s. Today, that acquaintance
came fill circle in, of all places, Lansdale PA.

Barbone Street was performing a noontime outdoor "Music on Main Street"
concert in this small town north of Philadelphia. Nice crowd, digging the
music, etc. But off to the side, I noticed two couples digging the music in
the special way that other musicians do. After the concert, they came up to
talk with me and one of the guys handed me a card which read; Birdland Music
& Recording, with a Lansdale address.

"Nice name", I said to one, adding to the other, "especially since you look
like Bird."

"I ought to", he said, "I'm his son Baird". "Your music, which is wonderful,
has some of that Kansas City sound that influenced my dad", he added.

It was Baird Parker, a son of Chan's and Charlie's born in 1952  give or
take a year. "I knew them both", I said.

We then chatted for about an hour about Bird, a genius in many ways besides
music,  And about Chan who idolized Bird and loved him very much. And about
Pree, Baird's sister who died tragically before Bird did. And about how her
death affected the relationship between his mom and dad. And I passed on
some funny stories about Bird's relationships with Monk, Jackie McLean,
Miles and others. 

I also included the Baroness Pannonica De Koenigswarter (A Rothschild) in
whose apartment at The Stanhope in NYC, Bird died. What a great friend she
was to Bird, Miles, McClean, Phineas Newborn Jr, Horace Silver, Gigi Gryce
and many other jazz musicians including Monk. (who with his wife Nelly,
retired to and later died at Nica's estate in NJ) And what a great patron of
Jazz she was, providing many society gigs for jazz musicians.

Those were exciting times in Jazz in NYC and our eyes misted over as we
talked about them. Because Baird never really got to know his dad, he was
two years old, maybe three, when Bird passed.

Took out my clarinet at the end or our talk and blew the tune "Laird Baird"
a blues which his dad had composed and dedicated to him, 55 years or so ago.
Just the five of us by now in the town square park between the train station
and Main Street. It was a magic moment in a world come full circle.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone