Bird’s Word

Everything was silent
And then Ma Rainey spread Black News
By way of the Backwater Blues
As Bessie Smith picked up on it
And spread the word, thru music and song
Then the message passed on
To Chick Webb, King Oliver, Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton
And they played the word and passed it along to Louis Armstrong
Fats Navarro, Charlie Ventura, Roy Eldridge and Fats Waller
Who was known to holler
The joint is jumpin with a Fatman's joy
As everybody started Stompin' at the Savoy
Then the word grew strong, as the immortal Bird came along
And blew all the Blackness that was true
With some Be-Bop brand new
Turning everybody on, with his unforgettable horn
As Lester Young became the first Prez of our race
And we turned around and dug on the beautiful face of Billie Holiday
As Billie began to sing praises to the blackman's thing
The good Brother Monk threw in some funk
So that the whole world could see
What he is, was and always will be
A genius creatively!
Then Miles began to set new styles
That put us miles ahead
As Dizzy set us free to be ourselves
And ride to heaven from hell in the latest
El-Do-Ra-Do, comin' far to carry us home!
Then Dinah sang finer
As Duke and Ella rode to fame
Goin' to Harlem on the A train
And we tuned into Charlie Mingus's bass
Setting a soulful pace
That let us taste the down sound
That found our hearts beating to the voice and drums
Of Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach
In their hip approach to Blackness!
Then Eddie Jefferson crooned an original tune
As Lambert, Hendricks and Ross scatted a new course
And we sampled King Pleasure's treasure
And listened to James Moody's moans
And then dug the dynamite drums of Brother Philly Joe Jones!
As Milt Jackson played the vibes in leaps and strides
With the MJQ (MJQ = Modern Jazz Quartet)
That sped our prides into sophisticate funkiness
Meanwhile, Sonny Rollins was building a bridge
For us to leave behind our grief
For the soulful relief
To find our own black minds
To tune in on Bud Powell
Who played the piano with funky hands
As he filled the seats and made 'em stand
On funky nights down Birdland (jazz club in NYC)
Then the Mighty Hawk made his horn talk (Coleman Hawkins)
And we heard Baby Ray play What'd I say
And jammed the set to dig Ornette
As Art Blakey broke free
Spreadin' the message to you and me
To dig on the trumpet of KD (KD = Kenny Dorham)
As we broadened our range
And counted our change with Basie
As Earl Fatha Hines blew our minds
And we grew fonder of Errol Garner
As Eddie Harris bent our ear talkin' bout Listen Here
And Eric Dolphy made his stand
With a side called Ironman
And Gene Ammons told his soul
And we mined Horace's Silver
That bought funky gold
Then Oscar Brown and Joe Williams got down
And we spun around, spun around, spun around, spun around, spun around
Spun around, spun around, spun around, spun around, spun around
Spun around, spun around, spun around, spun around
And dug Clifford Brown
Wowin' a sweet funky sound of soul
With a rhythm of gold
And along, and along, and along, and along, and along, and along, and along
And along, and along, and along, and along, and along, and along
And along, and along, and along, and along
Came 'trane!
Who blew away all the pain, all the pain, all the pain, all the pain, all the pain
All the pain, all the pain, all the pain, all the pain, all the pain
In the name of all the Black People on the Planet Earth
And all the stars in the cosmic universe!
As Brother 'trane blew to the East
To destroy the beast
And bring back Peace to Black People!
And everybody heard the majestic word of trane's horn
Telling us of a Love Supreme for Black People
That grew strong, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on
And on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on
And on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on
From the soul, from the heart
From the spirit, from the brain
From the love of Brother John Coltrane!
Then Jimmy Smith got funky with it
And preached a sermon not to Walk on the Wild Side
But ride with Wes Montgomery
Who played his best everyday in our life
As Shirley Scott's organ got hot
And she and Stanley set more funk free! (Stanley Turrentine)
As Ahmad Jamal played with renewed ability
To give our minds some Tranquility
So that we could listen to an in-soul depth
Brother Archie Shepp
As Jackie McLean broke on the scene
Blowing mean and harder
For everybody to listen to Betty Carter
As Sun Ra shined
And Cannonball's horn whined
Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!
So Sonny Stitt started piping it
And we couldn't get enough of brother Jack McDuff
As Freddie Hubbard began to bud
And we heard from Donald Byrd
And they'll be no others like the Ayter Brothers
Then Wayne Shorter grew taller
And our ship left dock with Herbie Hancock
As we rolled with Lee Morgan
And Grooved on Richard Holmes' organ
And then dug the soul of Art Tatum
Produce the sound that made him
As Rufus Harley blew an old new type bagpipe
That put the pants back on the man
An' Nina Simone groaned Mississippi Goddam!l
And Brother McCoy gave us peace and joy
As Elvin bought our freedom Jones down on us! (Elvin Jones)
Then Charles Lloyd filled the void
An' we watched Roland Kirk work!
And with a sigh of relief listened to Yusef Lateef
Blow in a flow of flurry's of peace from the east
As Pharaoh Sanders floated down the Nile with Brother Leon Thomas
To herald the promise of peace and happiness throughout the land!
All praises due to the Creator of the
Blackman!
Blackman!