Nigger, don't be playin' that shit behind me while I'm trying to sang

Charlie 'Bird' Parker:

You don't know her. You're too young. You're too young. She's probably dead by now. But, Violet: the vibrant Violet of song. They billed her at the Apollo. This is the chick I was playing behind when I found my style. I was just backing her up. I didn't even have a regular gig. I was just washing dishes and jamming after hours. Of course, that's before I became the titanic commercial success that you see sitting before you. That's before I captured the fancy of the adoring public. But I started playing these little - these figures behind her, see? And - they fit with the song - but, it was like going *inside* the melody. And she says, right on the stage, she says: Nigger, don't be playin' that shit behind me while I'm trying to sang