Charlie Parker’s “Now’s The Time” | Stories of Standards

“Now’s The Time” came out of what was marketed by Savoy label as the “greatest Jazz session ever” – led by Charlie Parker (“Bird”) with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis on trumpet, Curly Russell on bass and Max Roach on drums. The date was November 26, 1945.

An influential jazz soloist and leader in the development of bebop, Parker was known for his ability to  combine jazz with other musical genres, including blues, Latin, and classical.  Parker based “Now’s The Time”  on conventional twelve-bar blues changes.

Over the years, this song has been covered by the Joey DeFrancesco Trio, Sonny Rollins, The Oscar Peterson Trio, Milt Jackson, the Art Blakey Quintet and more.

An off shoot of Parker’s “Now’s the Time” is the popular dance number, “The Hucklebuck” which is based on “Now’s the Time”. Watch Norton and Kramden in this hilarious Hucklebuck clip from “The Honeymooners”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsT8ML0dc10

Tune in to First Take with Chavis and Lando for Stories of Standards on KUVO/KVJZ 89.3/88.5 or stream live at kuvo.org to hear our favorite versions of this song all week long!

Photo credit: www.koolkatjazz.com