BIRDHOP is a work in progress. It started just after the 2004 US election. Its theme is the story of modern jazz, which had its heyday from about 1940 to 1970, but is still with us in many ways today.

The first piece of the puzzle is an introduction to THE "YARDBIRD" CHARLIE PARKER — the single most important inventor of modern jazz (in eight parts below). Still in much earlier stages of construction are similar introductions to three other almost as influential modern jazz giants: Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane. SO WHAT — THE LEGEND OF MILES DAVIS is still next in line here, but more has been added recently as well on THE REMARKABLE THELONIOUS MONK.

Also now complete are: brief accounts for an additional half-dozen MODERN JAZZ GREATS (Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Evans, Paul Desmond, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, and Wes Montgomery); guides to current CDs for all 10 players on the initial list of jazz gaints and jazz greats combined; and a highly tentative list of the TOP 10 JAZZ ALBUMS (subject to much further revision).

We've been having some trouble keeping THE NEWS section up to date lately. But BIRDHOP is on the road in Kansas City, November 21-25, 2005, exploring the place that made Charlie Parker, 1920-1940, and trying to discover what it is today. We'll be returning with fresh field notes. And current plans call for an accompanying major renewal and re-launch of the website, to help get its first shaky yet determined year moving more briskly. Meanwhile, a start has also been made on an eventual larger section on JAZZ SINGERS, under the JAZZ LINKS button at the top of the home page. For more on the wider community, keep on reading below.

The concept for birdhop arose vaguely in the summer of 2004. Like modern jazz, it will probably continue to evolve somewhat spontaneously — and the site will always be under construction in some degree. The current editors also hope that growing numbers from the wider cyberspace community visiting the site will be inspired to join in on its growth and development.

Two bad acts from the embryonic network of visitors have already sent in audio clips of their own performances of modern jazz tunes. The clips can be heard under the button BIRDHOP MUSIC. The same place includes a warm invitation for all such future contributions, along with a webmaster's email address for instructions on how to upload your music. We're still looking for more bad acts. The editors welcome all written queries, comments, and other contributions at birdhop@eastendbooks.com.

To start with at least, BIRDHOP is a co-project of the small-press publisher, eastendbooks, based in Toronto, Canada, and the international website development group, the goodcontent network, with branches in Canada and Southern California. Who knows? At some point the wider cyberspace community may somehow take over. The staff have just begun reading Community Building on the Web by Amy Jo Kim (first published in Berkeley in the year 2000).

Sunday, March 6, 2005. Wednesday, May 4, 2005.