Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker By Stanley Crouch

Excerpted from Chapter One

Before sunrise, the news was on the streets: a fresh bunch of Kansas City musicians was in
townJay McShann and his orchestraand Lucky Millinder was taking a beating. t was a familiar kind of tale, !art of the e"citement of li#ing in $arlem. Somebody would show u! with a new way of doing it, or would do the classic stuff with such heat it felt brand%new. & t was a shock to e#erybody, because we had been holding our own with the other bands,' said (anama )rancis. *he ne"t morning, McShann had a #isitor at the +oodside hotel: Lucky Millinder himself. &C,mere, you little son of a bitch. want you to go with me this morning so we can sit down and talk.' -#er drinks and food, Millinder told McShann, &.ou know, you dirty sumbitches run us out of there last night.' &-h, no,' McShann demurred, &you know better than that.' &.es, you did. was going to send you back to the sticks, but you motherfuckers run us out of there. Look, you,re in the club now. ,m going to take you around town and show you what,s what. $ere,s my card. .ou e#er need to know about something, you call me.' McShann was shocked. & ne#er met anybody like you.' &+ell, that,s the way it is in /ew .ork. +hen you bust your way in, you,re in. Let,s get out of here and s!end some money.' McShann went along, but that didn,t mean a truce0 no form of friendshi! came before music. n the Kansas City 1am sessions, you had to be able to !lay either brilliantly or boldly. *he following night, McShann,s organi2ation did both. *hey !layed at 1ust the right tem!os, an essential element of swing. $alf the audience was at the bandstand,s edge, listening and sna!!ing their fingers0 the other half took to the dance floor, becoming what 3i22y 4illes!ie called &the mirror of the music.' 5ut the notes and rhythms that caught the dancers ins!ired more

than a reflection. *here were so many different #ariations going on out there that the musicians were !rodded into new ideas as they looked at those /egro bodies im!ro#ising on the music in time. +ith their confidence all the way u!, the McShann -rchestra had the corner on that dialogue. *hey were changing their title from western dogs to western demons. &Jay,s band was #ery s!ecial because we could !lay a walt2, a schottische, or whate#er,' obser#ed -r#ille Minor. &Somebody in the band could fit it, and the brass section could sit u! and !lay some harmony behind anybody. *he reed section got to where it was that way, too. 6 cat would know what !articular !art of the chord to build his notes from. 4ot to be so good at it you couldn,t tell what was written and what wasn,t.' So McShann could send +alter 5rown out there with (iggy Minor growling behind him0 then 5ird would ste! u! a chorus later, sli!!ing arabes7ues of musical freshness into the gutbucket. $ibbler,s se!ia ballads would !ush the men and women together. *hen Charlie would rise again, from the romantic cushion of brass and reeds, to manufacture gooseflesh with an im!ro#ised melody, a #eil of trans!arent lyricism, in bursts as brief as eight bars that made the dancers hold each other e#en closer and caused his fellow musicians to share their heads. 6nd so the McShann band !ro#ed it could swing, Kansas City style, lolling into !ower, trailing behind the beat a little bit, gradually lifting the gear a notch, 1ust a little more, until all within hearing distance knew it was on. 5uilding, is you ready8 9Cause we gonna tear you down!

On Sunday, at 4:30 P. ., a local radio show broadcast a 7uick fifteen%minute set from the
Sa#oy 5allroom. *he !roducers allowed in thirty or forty !eo!le to gi#e the musicians an audience, to make it more than a brief rehearsal. +hen they got the signal, McShann,s band kicked off a blues. &6nd now, ladies and gentlemen, from the home of ha!!y feet, the Sa#oy 5allroom, we !roudly !resent the Jay McShann -rchestra, all the way from Kansas City: *ake it, Jay.' *hey lo!ed through the blues, then went into a medium%tem!o song that swung nicely. *hey intended to take it out with &Cherokee,' Charlie,s feature. 5ut Charlie wasn,t there. +ell, that was Charlie (arker. ;#eryone was disa!!ointed in a familiar way, the way that those who must do business with drug addicts become accustomed tostarting with sus!ense, as all wonder if this will be another one of those times, then leading e#entually to an e"aggerated a!ology or one hell of a story about what made it im!ossible for him to get there. *he men all felt this burden of !otential disa!!ointment, and the resentment that came with it. +hy did this ha#e to be the guy with all the talent8 +hy couldn,t he be like the other guys who had itLouis

6rmstrong, Coleman $awkins, Lester .oung, <oy ;ldridgeable to ha#e his fun while kee!ing his !rofessional image shining8 +hy did his !ri#ate life ha#e to mess u! e#erybody else,s !lans so often8 *hat was the way it was, and it could seem so !itiful sometimes, make you so angry. 5ut then there he was, mo#ing across the floor, case in hand.