(I’m listening to a recording of the jazz guitar of Wes Montgomery from the early-60’s as I write this.) Part of what I love about jazz is its synthesis of seeming unpredictability, spontaneity, and raw emotion combined with a sense of elegance. This is not to say it’s prettier than the preceding design, but it certainly has many visually interesting details for the eye to feast on.įor those familiar with my “CC Jukebox” features, you probably know I’m a fan of jazz in many of its forms. While the third-generation, 1961 – ’63 “Bullet Bird” was smooth and svelte, the fourth-gen ‘Bird looks decidedly more angular, geometric, and a bit more complex. Its lines are kinetic, dynamic, and highly sculptured. And has there ever been a fall setting that was not made better by a blanket of colorful, fallen leaves? This Thunderbird is optimism wrapped in sheetmetal.
It’s as if I can hear the late, great Betty Carter scat-singing, “Something big is going to happen…♪♫” when I look at this car and see the light from the street lamps glinting off the chrome. It’s like they give me the same warm, “holiday” feeling as a Charlie Brown TV special. What I started to wonder as I snapped these photos was what it was about a classic Thunderbird of the 1960’s (specifically the third- and fourth-generation cars) that excited me so much. I will acknowledge that the age of our featured car obviously exaggerated its differences from the surrounding cars, but the artistry that went into the Thunderbird’s myriad details cannot be ignored. This Thunderbird’s poise, grace and distinctive shape stood in stark contrast to those of many of the newer cars parked by it that, by comparison, looked barely indistinguishable from each other. Thankfully, these neighborhood streets have a minimum of traffic at this hour, so I was able to get all the shots I wanted with the light that was available. I was already late for my morning workout, but it was unquestionably worth it. My exercise “warm up” ended up being a full-rabbit sprint back to my condo to get my camera. In fact, when I saw it, I thought I might still have been sleeping and dreamed this whole scenario…but it was very real. Seeing this Thunderbird there at the curb on an early, Monday morning walk to the health club did more to wake me up than two cups of black coffee. It is against this backdrop that I spotted our featured classic personal luxury coupe. I walk past the beautiful, red brick mansion where he and his wife reside, pretty much every day. I won’t drop his name here, but suffice it to say that many of you have probably heard his warm, rich baritone voice on many old commercials, voice-overs, narrations, and perhaps even on one of his own word-jazz recordings. (first posted ) A famous, now-nonagenarian jazz elocutionist lives a block away from me.
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