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Home & History of a Jazz Legend
& why it made the Carpe City list
Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
It was at Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter’s Fifth Avenue home where Charlie Parker died, and she immediately found herself thrust in the spotlight. A descendant of the infamous Rothschild family and member of the Free French Army, the Baroness “Nica” was a mysterious figure to anyone outside the jazz industry. A wild child and black sheep of the family, Pannonica frequented New York jazz clubs and befriended many of the musicians in the scene. Going a step further, she was instrumental in helping many careers, most notably that of Thelonious Monk, with whom she had a 28-year relationship. She would open her home to artists, protect them if they were being discriminated against and even pay their expenses when they couldn’t. Behind every great man is a great woman, and behind every great jazz musician in the ‘50s and ‘60s was the Baroness of Jazz.
Nica’s great niece, Hanna Rothschild, wrote a book on her life which was then turned into a TV documentary which offers interesting insight into the Rothschild family and the Baroness’s scandalous life.
The Search for Nica, the Rebellious Rothschild and Jazz’s Secret Muse
on Amazon
What do you think of when you hear the word “hipster”? Probably a twenty-something with a groomed mustache and lumbersexual attire who mixes a darn good bespoke cocktail. Although the term has made a comeback with the ‘90s and ‘00s alternative scene, it actually originated with the “hep cats” of the jazz generation. If you know your jazz, then you are probably familiar with Cab Calloway the talented singer, dancer and bandleader who performed at the infamous Cotton Club in Harlem. Calloway was a charming, cunning linguist and he and his fellow jazz musicians created a whole new lexicon of their own. In 1939, Calloway published this lingo as Cab Calloway’s Hepster’s Dictionary: Language of Jive, which included the term “Hep Cat,” a guy who knows all the answers, understands jive and the ins-and-outs of the jazz scene. As well as the words “Hip” and “Got Your Boots On” and words opposite of hip such as “Square,” “Icky” and “Jeff.” This little book, whose words were later incorporated into songs, became the first dictionary authored by an African-American.
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