Charli Persip's Medical Fund

Jazz drumming great Charli Persip recently turned 90 years young and Adam Nussbaum has informed me that Persip is also facing some medical challenges these days. A Go Fund Me fundraiser has been set up in his name to help with the cost of the medical bills and he would sure appreciate any help you can offer:

https://www.gofundme.com/charli-persip039s-medical-fund

From the Go Fund Me webpage:

"Famed jazz drummer, Charli Persip, known for his band SuperSound, has played with jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Eckstine. Unfortunately, in recent years, Charli Persip has been struggling with illness. Due to this, he had to stop doing what he loves the most; performing and teaching. This has left him to fall on hard times financially due to medical bills.

We are reaching out to the jazz community at this time for any contributions towards the Charli Persip medical fund. He would greatly appreciate the support. You can e-mail his family at charlipersip@yahoo.com as well."

Fortunately for us, Charli's 90th birthday celebration concert was recently shared on YouTube and featured a plethora of great musicians and drummers including appearances from the likes of E.J. Strickland, Kenny Washington, Taru Alexander, Lloyd Haber, Warren Smith, Marcus Baylor, Jack DeJohnette, Nasheet Waits, Eli Fountain, Jeff Tain Watts, Carl Allen, Andrew Cyrille, Darrell Smith, Adam Nussbaum and more. Check it out:



Happy Birthday indeed!

Adam Nussbaum was also kind enough to offer these words, some thoughts on the impact that Persip had on his own development:

"Charli was one of my early teachers. He was such an inspiration beyond just the drums. What I got from him was that it was all about the music and the commitment. That had a major impact on me. It still does!"

Personally, I was first made aware of Charli Persip's drumming from listening to the 90s CD reissue of the album Gretsch Drum Night at Birdland. This album featured Persip along with the drumming powers of Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones in an epic drum battle but Charli Persip, at the time, was brand new to me. However, once I heard him do his thing (and, in my opinion, more than keep up with the others!) I was like...."okay now who is THIS guy???" Needless to say, I've been a fan ever since.

Adam Nussbaum, Chad Anderson, Jesse Cahill and Brad Shigeta also all reminded me to check out Persip's swinging playing with Dizzy Gillespie (Have Trumpet Will Excite, Dizzy Gillespie at Newport and Sonny Side Up with Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins), Lee Morgan's Blue Note recordings, Cecil Payne's The Connection, piano trio dates with Red Garland, Benny Golson's New York Scene and his own Charles Persip and the JAZZ Statesmen: