Bird-Prez episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 31, 2025 · 3H 7M

Bird-Prez

from The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid Gribetz · host gribetzsid

The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites. On the middle, swing, date, August 28, we play mixtures of Bird and Prez.  Here is my segment from the 2025 edition. It starts with an hour of casual listening of 1950's Mercury/Verve recordings of the two saxophonists. Then I discuss the impact of episodes of breakdowns suffered by Charlie Parker and Lester Young, Bird’s commitment to Camarillo Hospital in 1946 and Lester’s treatment at Bellevue in November 1955, and their music upon refreshing recoveries; and finally a 58 minute treasure contrasting recordings of American Popular Songbook items by each, “Oh, Lady Be Good” and many more.

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Bird-Prez

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How long is this episode of The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid Gribetz?

This episode is 3 hours and 7 minutes long.

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This episode was published on August 31, 2025.

What is this episode about?

The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our...

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