Vincent Herring, Bobby Watson, Gary Bartz | “Bird at 100” on Smoke Sessions Records

Album Celebrates the Centenary of the
Jazz Icon Live with Compositions Written or
Performed by Charlie Parker and Several Pieces
Penned in Tribute to His Enduring Legacy

August 29, 2020 will mark the centennial of one of jazz’s most iconic figures, Charlie Parker. The celebration gets off to a jubilantly swinging start with an alto saxophone summit bringing together three of modern jazz’s most acclaimed voices: Vincent Herring, Bobby Watson and Gary Bartz. Along with a superb rhythm section, the three distinctive altoists pay tribute to Parker’s legacy in the most apt fashion for this ground-breaking pioneer: by carrying his innovations forward in their own utterly singular styles.

Due out November 29 via Smoke Sessions Records, the soul-stirring Bird at 100 traces a direct lineage from Parker’s birthplace in Kansas City to the stage of Smoke Jazz & Supper Club, where these three influential acolytes look back from the vantage point of jazz in 2019, with a combination of reverence, respect and adventure. The program offers a buoyant mix of classic Parker tunes, familiar standards once recorded by Bird (and the generations since) and new compositions written in honor of the master.

Separated by roughly a decade apiece, Bartz, Watson and Herring represent three distinct points along that line linking Bird’s transformative approach through the evolution of music in his wake. Bartz was born just as Parker was making his mark in New York City, and thus grew up in a musical world indelibly marked by his unmistakable sound. Watson came into the world less than two years before Parker left it, mentored by first-generation bop giants like Art Blakey. And Herring was part of a movement that reimagined bebop for a wholly new generation, while maintaining a link with the source through such greats as Nat Adderley and Freddie Hubbard.

The three are ably backed on Bird at 100 by a rhythm section that has deeply imbibed the entire sweep of that history: pianist David Kikoski, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer Carl Allen. All three are regular collaborators with Herring, thus bringing a well-established chemistry to this all-star outing.

Bartz feels the link to Parker in a direct way, he says. “I started playing [during] the era of bebop… Bird changed the whole landscape of the music with his virtuosity, his harmonic knowledge, and his musicality. To me, he’s like the modern-day Bach.”

For Watson, a fellow Kansas City native, Parker represents a laundry list of admirable qualities: “Triumph over adversity. Spontaneity. Creativity. Individualism. Originality.” Through this project, he continues, he aims to “try to extend his legacy in my own way. People like Bird, Duke Ellington and Monk all loved to hear people put different spins and interpret their music through their own voice. So I wanted to add my voice on the saxophone and add some different spins on his classic compositions and song forms.”

Photo Credit: Jimmy Katz

The album roars to a start with one of Parker’s classic burners, “Klactoveedsedstene” – a tune as daunting to navigate as it is to pronounce. All three altoists get a chance to brave its tricky turns: Herring with a pointed fleetness, followed by Watson’s fluid soulfulness and finally Bartz’s unpredictable swerves. It’s followed by Watson’s contribution, “Bird-ish,” an homage penned over the changes to Parker’s immortal “Confirmation” that allows all three to spar with Carl Allen.

Kikoski’s knotty but fanciful lines open Parker’s “The Hymn” before the frontline takes off in an old-fashioned blowing contest – one that Herring insists was more comradely than competitive. “When you’re in your 20s it’s more of a competitive thing, but that changes as you get older,” he says. “Now it’s a celebration of where the music is coming from and an appreciation of each other.”

“Folklore” is Herring’s tribute to Bird and other influential voices of the era, including Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, and the composer’s own mentor, Nat Adderley. The zig-zagging melody evokes the bop era while maintaining the flavor of the present day. “Bird Lives” is a tribute by the late, great Jackie McLean, another virtuosic altoist (and another point on the timeline, bridging the two decades that separate Bird and Bartz). The set comes to a raucous close with the evening’s final Parker classic, “Yardbird Suite.”

Each of the three saxophonists also takes his moment in the spotlight with a ballad feature. Herring wrings every ounce of emotion and yearning from “Lover Man,” while Watson offers a tour de force of phrasing on “These Foolish Things.” Bartz embarks on a poignant exploration of “April in Paris,” inspired by the rendition from Bird With Strings.

While all three profess their lifelong love of Charlie Parker, they also form a mutual admiration society for one another. “It was fascinating to hear the three different sounds of the alto,” Bartz says. “If you’re playing and it’s coming from your inside, then you won’t sound like anybody else. [Vincent and Bobby] each have their individual sound and concept of how the alto should sound.”

Watson declares the weekend’s performances full of “complete and utter joy and respect. And fun – maybe not in that order. Maybe fun first [laughs].”

For Herring, the most important message he hopes to convey through the music on Bird at 100 is one of deep respect for the artistry of Charlie Parker – something that can be lost in the more sensationalistic details often depicted in depictions of the troubled saxophonist.