Lawrence Koch's book "Yardbird Suite," reviewed in my last post, offers quite a bit of analytical detail about most of Charlie Parker's recordings, including the musical quotations in Bird's solos. Below is a list I extracted from the book as I re-read it. (Thanks to the author for his kind permission.)
Update 12/21/15 - I've added a few more at the end of the list, from Thomas Owens' dissertation "Charlie Parker: Techniques of Improvisation" (1974).
Parker was more likely to employ musical quotes in live performances than in the studio; it was his way of telling a little joke to his audience. Sometimes his choice of quote was intended as a message to a fellow musician or to a particular listener, sometimes it was just being silly.
This list is more or less chronological, 1941-1955. I haven't included examples of Parker quoting his own previous recordings, or quoting other musicians' solos (e.g., Lester Young's), and I have only listed the first instance of each song quote that Koch cites. When a jazz standard like "Star Eyes" or "I'll Remember April" appears on the list, it's because it was quoted in a solo over a different tune.
There's no independent research on my part here, just a collation of the melodies cited throughout the book. I'm sure that the list is incomplete. It's posted for your amusement, and as bit of musical history.
Isle of Capri
We're in the Money
Scatterbrain
Bye Bye Blackbird
London Bridge
Happy Am I With My Religion
Drum Boogie
Mean to Me
Cottontail
Somehow
Woody Woodpecker
Cocktails for Two
In the Gloaming
Happy Birthday
Dardanella
Canadian Capers
Country Gardens
D'Ye Ken John Peel
Le Secret
When The Red, Red Robin...
Why Was I Born?
Buttons and Bows
Then I'll Be Happy
I'll Remember April
The Kerry Dancers
Jingle Bells
The Man On the Flying Trapeze
Pop Goes the Weasel
My Kind of Love
On the Trail
Blues in the Night
West End Blues
Habanera
High Society
Barnacle Bill the Sailor
The Prisoner's Song
That's A-Plenty
Johnny One-Note
My Man
Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?
In and Out the Window
Stumbling
Memories of You
A-Hunting We Will Go
Claire de Lune
National Emblem March
Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair
Ladybird
Cross My Heart
Star Eyes
The Song is You
Humoresque
Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee
Mozart Symphony #40
Honey
Tenderly
Temptation
Let's Fall in Love
Please
Three Blind Mice
I Love You Truly
Why Do I Love You
William Tell Overture
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
I Can't Get Started
Casbah
I Cover the Waterfront
Minuet in G
Moon Over Miami
Nightingale
Addenda: from the Owens dissertation mentioned above:
Over There
Poinciana
Put Your Little Foot
Oh Come, all Ye Faithful
Minute Waltz (Chopin)
"Introduction" from "The Rite of Spring" (Stravinsky)
"Dance of the Ballerina" from "Petrouchka" (Stravinsky)
"Anitra's Dance" (Grieg)
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" (Grieg)
"Menuet Celebre" (Paderewski)
"Star of Eve" from "Tanhauser" (Wagner)
Addendum 9/26/17 - I just ran across this page with more great Bird quote info: Quotes in Bird's Performance.
Addendum 6/13/19 - A few more from the new "Charlie Parker Omnibook Vol. 2":
Tickle Toe
It Don't Mean a Thing
Volga Boat Song
4 comments:
It's driving me nuts--what is that sprightly little quote he and Diz often stick in at the end of a number, as a closing flourish? 'dadada--da-da-da-daaaaaaah--dadum!'
I know I've heard it as a kid--the actual composition--maybe on Captain Kangaroo? But I have never known what it was called.
Are you thinking of their paraphrase of "Country Gardens" by Percy Grainger? Youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckt1mAiq5Uo
Well, I could hardly be thinking of the title or the composer's name, since I knew neither, but that is the tune for sure.
I think the version I heard as a kid was some kind of comic novelty recording, not traditional orchestration. That's how I recognized it when it got quoted in Jazz recordings. Thanks so much for the assist. (And for the record, I like the bop rendition best.)
Looking around, I see Percy Grainger's rendition is an orchestration of an old traditional tune, often used for Morris Dancing. There are even lyrics for it (perhaps more contemporary), which I found out by humming the melody for my significant other, only to learn that I needn't have bothered you, since she immediately identified it as "English Country Gardens" and knew some of the lyrics.
This has been bugging me for years, and all I had to do was hum it for her.
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