Is "Night Bird" from the Star Trek TNG episode "Second Chances" a real 20th-century song?

Question

I'm a big jazz aficionado (and a trombone player) and I was curious if the song "Night Bird" (more information below) is a real song or a fictional jazz song.
From Memory Alpha:

"Night Bird" was a jazz song that Commander William Riker had been practicing on his trombone for ten years.
Riker, who was normally a very skilled musician, always had trouble with a solo part in the piece. It was for this reason that Counselor Troi requested the song during a jazz concert in 2369, but Riker was "saved" by a call from the bridge. (TNG: "Second Chances")

Valorum · Accepted Answer

According to the EU Novel The Black Shore, the piece 'Nightbird' was written by a composer named DuZoinn, a noted composer on Troi's homeworld of Betazed.

Beyond the mere challenge of the piece, this connection with his former lover's planet would explain why Riker has spent so long trying to perfect it.

The crimson sun was high in the sky, but the leafy Ryol tree provided
  Harry Kim with plenty of shade in which to practice his clarinet. His
  Starfleet-issue boots sat empty upon the lawn a few meters away from
  him, his bare feet cushioned by the purple moss that carpeted the
  fragrant ground. Wide violet fronds rustled in the cooling breeze as
  Kim relaxed, resting his back against the copper-colored bark of the
  tree, and ran once more through the jazzy melody of "Nightbird" by the
  famed Betazed composer DuZoinn. It was a tricky piece, with lots of
  high notes, but Kim thought he was starting to get the hang of it.

FuzzyBoots · Answer

There is a Chet Baker piece by that name, but it's not the same one, so this is likely fictional and/or has not been composed yet.

Is "Night Bird" from the Star Trek TNG episode "Second Chances" a real 20th-century song?

2 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question