Birdland lyric http://www.metrolyrics.com/birdland-lyrics-manhattan-transfer.html 5000 light years from Birdland But I'm still preachin' the rythym Long gone uptight years from Birdland And I'm still teachin' it with 'em Years from the land of the Bird And I am still feelin' the spirit 5000 light years from Birdland But I know people can hear itBird named it, Bird made it Bird heard it, then played it Well stated Birdland It happened down in Birdland In the middle of that hub I remember one jazz club Where we went to pat feet Down on 52nd Street Everybody heard that word That they named it after Bird Where the rythym swooped and swirled The jazz corner of the world And the cats they gigged in there Were beyond compare Birdland, I'm singing Birdland Birdland, old swingin' Birdland Hey man, the music really turns you on Really? Ya turn me around and turn me on Down them stairs, lose them cares Where? Down in Birdland Total swing, Bop was king there Down in Birdland Bird would cook, Max would look Where? Down in Birdland Miles came through, trane came too there Down in Birdland Basie blew, Blakie too Where? Down in Birdland Cannonball played that hall there Down in Birdland, yeah There will never be nothin' such as that No more, skoo be wah, no more Down in Birdland, that's where it was at I know, ah ah ah ah ah, I know Back in them days Bop was ridin' high Hello, heh heh heh heh heh, goodbye! How well those cats remember their first Birdland gig To play in Birdland is an honor we still dig Yeah, that club was like in another world Sure enough, yeah baby All those cats were cookin' on People just sat and they were steady lookin' on Then Bird, he came and spread the word Birdland Yes indeed he did Yes indeed he did Yes indeed he did Yes he did Parker played in Birdland Yes he really did Yes indeed he really did told the truth way down in Birdland Yes indeed he did, Yard bird Parker played in Birdland Yes indeed he really did, Charlie Parker played in Birdland Bird named it, Bird made it Bird heard it, then played it Well stated Birdland It happened down in Birdland Everybody dug that beat Everybody stomped their feet Everybody digs be bop And they'll never stop Down them stairs, lose them cares Yeah, down in Birdland Total swing, Bop was king Yeah, down in Birdland Bird would cook, Max would look Yeah, down in Birdland Miles came through, trane came too Yeah, down in Birdland Basie blew, Blakie too Yeah, down in Birdland Cannonball played that hall Yeah, down in Birdland Down them stairs, lose them cares Yeah, down in Birdland Total swing, Bop was king Yeah, down in Birdland Bird would cook, Max would look Yeah, down in Birdland Miles came through, trane came too Yeah, down in Birdland Basie blew, Blakie too Yeah, down in Birdland Cannonball played that hall Yeah, down in Birdland Down them stairs, lose them cares Yeah, down in Birdland Total swing, Bop was king Yeah, down in Birdland Bird would cook, Max would look Yeah, down in Birdland ==== Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s.[2][3][4] Adderley is remembered for his 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy",[5] a crossover hit on the pop charts (it was also covered by the Buckinghams). He worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, on his own 1958 Somethin' Else album, and on the seminal Davis records Milestones (1958) and Kind of Blue (1959). He was the older brother of jazz trumpeter Nat Adderley, a longtime member of his band.[6] John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes and was at the forefront of free jazz. He led at least fifty recording sessions and appeared on many albums by other musicians, including trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. Over the course of his career, Coltrane's music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension. He remains one of the most influential saxophonists in music history. He received many posthumous awards, including canonization by the African Orthodox Church and a Pulitzer Prize in 2007.[1] His second wife was pianist Alice Coltrane and their son, Ravi Coltrane, is also a saxophonist. Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), also known as Yardbird and Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.[1] Parker was a highly influential jazz soloist and a leading figure in the development of bebop,[2] a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique and advanced harmonies. Parker was a blazingly fast virtuoso, and he introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. His tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber. Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" early in his career on the road with Jay McShann.[3] This, and the shortened form "Bird", continued to be used for the rest of his life, inspiring the titles of a number of Parker compositions, such as "Yardbird Suite", "Ornithology", "Bird Gets the Worm", and "Bird of Paradise". Parker was an icon for the hipster subculture and later the Beat Generation, personifying the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual rather than just an entertainer.[4] Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he became a Muslim.[1] Blakey made a name for himself in the 1940s in the big bands of Fletcher Henderson and Billy Eckstine. He worked with bebop musicians Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. In the mid-1950s Horace Silver and Blakey formed the Jazz Messengers, a group that the drummer was associated with for the next 35 years. The group was formed as a collective of contemporaries, but over the years the band became known as an incubator for young talent, including Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, and Wynton Marsalis. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz calls the Jazz Messengers "the archetypal hard bop group of the late 50s".[2] He was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame (in 1981),[3] the Grammy Hall of Fame (in 1998 and 2001), and was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1991.[4] William James "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984)[1] was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, Basie formed his own jazz orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams. Bop = Bebop Cat = Jazz musician "Birdland" marked the peak of Weather Report's commercial career with the release of Heavy Weather. With the addition of Jaco Pastorius, the band was able to push its music to the "height of its popularity", and with that came "Birdland." "Birdland" served as a tribute to the famous New York City jazz club that hosted many famous jazz musicians, which operated on Broadway from 1949 through 1965. This was the club, which he frequented almost daily, where Zawinul heard Count Basie,[3] Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis. It was also where he met his wife, Maxine.[4] Looking back, Zawinul claimed, "The old Birdland was the most important place in my life."[5] The song was also named in honor of the man after whom the club was named, Charlie Parker, the 'Bird' himself. Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States, which features songs characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on a combination of harmonic structure, the use of scales and occasional references to the melody. Bebop developed as the younger generation of jazz musicians expanded the creative possibilities of jazz beyond the popular, dance-oriented swing style with a new "musician's music" that was not as danceable and demanded close listening.[1] As bebop was not intended for dancing, it enabled the musicians to play at faster tempos. Bebop musicians explored advanced harmonies, complex syncopation, altered chords, extended chords, chord substitutions, asymmetrical phrasing, and intricate melodies. Bebop groups used rhythm sections in a way that expanded their role. Whereas the key ensemble of the swing era was the big band of up to fourteen pieces playing in an ensemble-based style, the classic bebop group was a small combo that consisted of saxophone (alto or tenor), trumpet, piano, guitar, double bass, and drums playing music in which the ensemble played a supportive role for soloists. Rather than play heavily arranged music, bebop musicians typically played the melody of a song (called the "head") with the accompaniment of the rhythm section, followed by a section in which each of the performers improvised a solo, then returned to the melody at the end of the song. Some of the most influential bebop artists, who were typically composer-performers, are: tenor sax players Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, and James Moody; alto sax player Charlie Parker; trumpeters Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie; pianists Bud Powell, Mary Lou Williams, and Thelonious Monk; electric guitarist Charlie Christian, and drummers Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, and Art Blakey.