On the Etymology of "Jamf"

[Alan Westrope]

As a result of my delightfully dissipated saxophone-playing youth, I have
long been aware of the origin of the term "jamf."  However, I can't recall
seeing it documented anywhere in the modest amount of Pynchon criticism
I've read (Weisenburger, Fowler, Slade, _Mindful Pleasures_, and a few
other articles).  Nor have I ever encountered the term in print, despite
occasional searches over the years in books about American slang, profanity,
Black English, and the like.  Earlier today, though, I found this book:

==========================================================================
AUTHOR(s):       Gold, Robert S.,  1924-
TITLE(s):        Jazz talk
                 New York :  Da Capo Press,  1982, c1975.
                 xii, 322 p. ;  22 cm. --
                 Unabridged republication of the 1st ed. published by
                   Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, 1975.
==========================================================================

While examining the entry for "jive" I found this on page 148:

4. jive, jiver, jive mother-fucker, jive-ass mother-fucker, jamf (oral
   evidence only for the last three)...jamf is an abbreviation of
   jive-ass mother-fucker and is said to have originated with Charlie
   Parker;

This is precisely how I've heard "jamf" used, of course!  It's always nice
to have it confirmed, though, and I was pleasantly surprised by the level
of scholarship in Gold's book -- it's far better than most similar endeavors.

Now, if this is already known to some of you through a source such as, say,
"_Gravity's Rainbow_ oder die Lust an der Apokalyptischen Karvevalisierung
des Heiligen Textes," please do me a favor and keep it to yourselves:  I'd
prolly be so, like rilly brought-down that I might just transfenestrate my
scrawny, melanin-deficient, fluorescent beige ass...dig?

Oh, yeah -- Bonnie, I sure hope you can work this into your exams!  :-)

G'luck,

Alan Westrope                  <awestrop at nyx10.cs.du.edu>
__________/|-,                 <adwestro at ouray.cudenver.edu>
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