Charles Parker, Jr. famously called
Bird or
Yardbird, was an American
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist and composer.
Parker, with
Louis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
and
Duke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, is widely considered to have been one of the most influential
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musicians. Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" early in his career and the shortened form "Bird" remained Parker's
sobriquetA sobriquet is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. It is usually a familiar name, distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise, but a nickname which is familiar enough such that it can be used in place of a real name without the need of explanation...
for the rest of his life, inspiring the titles of a number of Parker compositions, such as "
Yardbird SuiteYardbird Suite is a bebop standard composed by Charlie Parker in 1946. It follows an AABA form. It was used as the title of Lawrence O. Koch's biography of Parker....
", "
Ornithology"Ornithology" is a jazz standard by bebop alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Benny Harris.Its title is a reference to Parker's nickname, "Bird"...
" and "Bird of Paradise."
Parker played a leading role in the development of
bebopBebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuoso technique, and improvisation based on
harmonicIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
structure. Parker's innovative approaches to
melodyA melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, rhythm, and
harmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
exercised enormous influence on his contemporaries. Several of Parker's songs have become
standardsJazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
, including "
Billie's Bounce"Billie's Bounce" also known as "Bill's Bounce", is a jazz composition written in 1945 by Charlie Parker in the form of an 12 bar F blues. It was dedicated to Billy Shaw by the Yardbird. The original recording by Charlie Parker and His Re-Boppers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.....
", "
Anthropology"Anthropology" is a bebop-style jazz composition written by saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie from 1945. Like many other jazz compositions, it uses the chords known as "rhythm changes".-See also:...
", "
Ornithology"Ornithology" is a jazz standard by bebop alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Benny Harris.Its title is a reference to Parker's nickname, "Bird"...
", and "
Confirmation"Confirmation" is a bebop standard composed by saxophonist Charlie Parker in 1946. It is known as a challenging number due to its long, complex head and rapid chord changes, which feature an extended cycle of fifths ....
". He introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas including a tonal vocabulary employing 9ths, 11ths and 13ths of chords, rapidly implied passing chords, and new variants of altered chords and chord substitutions. His tone was clean and penetrating, but sweet and plaintive on ballads. Although many Parker recordings demonstrate dazzling virtuosic technique and complex melodic lines – such as "Ko-Ko", "Kim", and "Leap Frog" – he was also one of the great blues players. His themeless blues improvisation "Parker's Mood" represents one of the most deeply affecting recordings in jazz. At various times, Parker fused jazz with other musical styles, from classical to Latin music, blazing paths followed later by others.
Parker was an icon for the
hipsterHipster, as used in the 1940s, referred to aficionados of jazz, in particular bebop, which became popular in the early 1940s. The hipster adopted the lifestyle of the jazz musician, including some or all of the following: dress, slang, use of cannabis and other drugs, relaxed attitude, sarcastic...
subculture and later the
Beat GenerationThe Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
, personifying the conception of the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and
intellectualAn intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
, rather than just a popular entertainer. His style — from a rhythmic, harmonic and soloing perspective — has made a significant impact on musicians of all kinds.
Childhood
Charlie Parker was born in
Kansas CityKansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
,
KansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, and raised in
Kansas CityKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
,
MissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, the only child of Charles and Addie Parker. Charlie attended Lincoln High School. He enrolled in September 1934 and withdrew in December 1935 about the time he joined the local Musicians Union.
Parker displayed no sign of musical talent as a child. His father Charles was an alcoholic who was often absent but presumably provided some musical influence; he was a pianist, dancer and singer on the T.O.B.A. circuit, although he later became a
PullmanThe Pullman Palace Car Company, founded by George Pullman, manufactured railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Pullman developed the sleeping car which carried his name into the 1980s...
waiter or chef on the railways. Charlie's mother Addie worked nights at the local
Western UnionThe Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
. His biggest influence however was a young
tromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
player who taught him the basics of improvisation.
Parker began playing the saxophone at age 11 and at age 14 joined his school's band using a rented school instrument. One story holds that, without formal training, he was terrible, and thrown out of the band. Experiencing periodic setbacks of this sort, at one point he broke off from his constant practicing.
Early career
It has been said that, in early 1936, Parker participated in a
cutting contestCutting contests were a form of musical battles between various stride piano players between the 1920s and 1940s, and to a lesser extent in improvisatory competition on other jazz instruments during the swing era...
that included
Jo JonesJo Jones was an American jazz drummer.Known as Papa Jo Jones in his later years, he was sometimes confused with another influential jazz drummer, Philly Joe Jones...
on drums, who tossed a
cymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
at Parker in impatience with his playing. However, in the numerous interviews throughout his life, Jones made no mention of this incident. At this time Parker began to practice with great diligence and rigor, learning the
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, "Cherokee" and "
rhythm changesIn jazz and jazz harmony, "rhythm changes" refers to the chord progression occurring in George Gershwin's song "I Got Rhythm". This pattern, which forms the basis of countless jazz compositions, was popular with swing-era musicians: It is found in "Shoeshine Boy" and "Cotton Tail" written by...
" in all twelve
keysIn music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
. In this woodshedding period, Parker mastered improvisation and developed some of the ideas of be-bop. In an interview with
Paul DesmondPaul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...
, he said he spent 3–4 years practicing up to 15 hours a day. It has been said that he used to play many other tunes in all twelve keys. The story, though undocumented, would help to explain the fact that he often played in unconventional concert pitch key signatures, like E (which transposes to C# for the alto sax).
Groups led by
Count BasieWilliam "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
and
Bennie MotenBennie Moten was a noted American jazz pianist and band leader born in Kansas City, Missouri.He led the Kansas City Orchestra, the most important of the itinerant, blues-based orchestras active in the Midwest in the 1920s, and helped to develop the riffing style that would come to define many of...
were the leading Kansas City ensembles, and undoubtedly influenced Parker. He continued to play with local bands in jazz clubs around Kansas City, Missouri, where he perfected his technique with the assistance of
Buster SmithHenry "Buster" Smith , also known as Professor Smith, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and mentor to Charlie Parker. Smith was instrumental in instituting the Texas Sax Sound with Count Basie and Lester Young in the 1930s...
, whose dynamic transitions to double and triple time certainly influenced Parker's developing style.
In 1938, Parker joined pianist
Jay McShannJay McShann was an American Grammy Award-nominated jump blues, mainstream jazz, and swing bandleader, pianist and singer....
's
territory bandTerritory bands were dance bands that crisscrossed specific regions of the United States from the 1920s through the 1960s. Beginning in the 1920s, the bands typically had 8 to 12 musicians. These bands typically played one-nighters, 6 or 7 nights a week at venues like VFW halls, Elks Lodges,...
. The band toured nightclubs and other venues of the southwest, as well as Chicago and New York City. Parker made his professional recording debut with McShann's band. It was said at one point in McShann's band that he "sounded like a machine", owing to his highly virtuosic yet nonetheless musical playing.
As a teenager, Parker developed a
morphineMorphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
addiction while in hospital after an automobile accident, and subsequently became addicted to
heroin. Heroin would haunt him throughout his life and ultimately contribute to his death.
New York City
In 1939, Parker moved to New York City. There he pursued a career in music, but held several other jobs as well. He worked for $9 a week as a dishwasher at Jimmie's Chicken Shack where pianist
Art TatumArthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
performed. Parker's later style in some ways recalled Tatum's, with dazzling, high-speed
arpeggioAn arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
s and sophisticated use of
harmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
.
In 1942, Parker left McShann's band and played with
Earl HinesEarl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
for one year. Also in the band was trumpet player
Dizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, which is where the soon to be famous duo met for the first time. Unfortunately, this period is virtually undocumented because of the strike of 1942–1943 by the
American Federation of MusiciansThe American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
, during which no official recordings were made. Nevertheless, it is known that Parker joined a group of young musicians in after-hours clubs in Harlem such as
Clark Monroe's Uptown HouseClark Monroe's Uptown House, sometimes shortened to Monroe's Uptown House or simply Monroe's, was a nightclub in New York City. Along with Minton's Playhouse, it was one of the two principal clubs in the early history of bebop jazz....
and (to a much lesser extent)
Minton's PlayhouseMinton’s Playhouse is a jazz club and bar located on the first floor of the Cecil Hotel at 210 West 118th Street in Harlem. Minton’s was founded by tenor saxophonist Henry Minton in 1938...
. These young iconoclasts included Gillespie, pianist
Thelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, guitarist
Charlie ChristianCharles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
, and drummer
Kenny ClarkeKenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...
. The beboppers' attitude was summed up in a famous quotation attributed to Monk by
Mary Lou WilliamsMary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...
: "We wanted a music that they couldn't play" – "they" being the (white) bandleaders who had taken over and profited from swing music. The group played in venues on
52nd Street52nd Street is a long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-Jazz center:The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue were renowned in the mid-20th century for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life...
including the Three Deuces and The Onyx. In his time in New York City, Parker also learned much from notable music teacher
Maury DeutschMaury Deutsch is a musician who has played the trumpet from an early age. He is one of the most prolific and accomplished arranger-composers of his time, and in New York history. Deutsch was born and raised on the Lowest East Side of Manhattan, New York...
.
Bebop
According to an interview Parker gave in the 1950s, one night in 1939, he was playing "Cherokee" in a jam session with guitarist William 'Biddy' Fleet when he hit upon a method for developing his solos that enabled him to play what he had been hearing in his head for some time, by connecting harmony using the diminished relationship of dominants. Still with McShann's orchestra, Parker at this time realized that the twelve tones of the
chromatic scaleThe chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
can lead melodically to any key, breaking some of the confines of simpler jazz soloing.
Early in its development, this new type of jazz was rejected by many of the established, traditional jazz musicians who disdained their younger counterparts with comments like
Eddie CondonAlbert Edwin Condon , better known as Eddie Condon, was a jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in the so-called "Chicago school" of early Dixieland, he also played piano and sang on occasion....
's putdown: "They flat their fifths, we drink ours." The beboppers, in response, called these traditionalists "
moldy figsMoldy figs are purist advocates of early jazz, originally those such as Rudi Blesh, Alan Lomax, and James Jones who argued that jazz took a wrong turn in the early 1920s with developments such as the introduction of printed scores...
". However, some musicians, such as
Coleman HawkinsColeman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
and
Benny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, were more positive about its development, and participated in jam sessions and recording dates in the new approach with its adherents.
Because of the two-year
Musicians' UnionThe American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
recording ban on all commercial recordings from 1942 to 1944 (part of a struggle to get royalties from record sales for a union fund for out-of-work musicians), much of bebop's early development was not captured for posterity. As a result, the new musical concepts only gained limited radio exposure. Bebop musicians had a difficult time gaining widespread recognition. It was not until 1945, when the recording ban was lifted, that Parker's collaborations with
Dizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
,
Max RoachMaxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
,
Bud PowellEarl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
and others had a substantial effect on the jazz world. One of their first (and greatest) small-group performances together was rediscovered and issued in 2005: a concert in New York's Town Hall on June 22, 1945. Bebop began to grab hold and gain wider appeal among musicians and fans alike.
On November 26, 1945, Parker led a record date for the
SavoySavoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...
label, marketed as the "greatest Jazz session ever." The tracks recorded during this session include "Ko-Ko" (based on the chords of "Cherokee"), "Now's the Time" (a
twelve bar bluesThe 12-bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics and phrase and chord structure and duration...
incorporating a
riffThe Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
later used in the late 1949 R&B dance hit
"The Hucklebuck"Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams was an American blues and rhythm and blues saxophonist and songwriter. In his Honkers and Shouters, Arnold Shaw credits Williams as one of the first to employ the honking tenor sax solo that became the hallmark of rhythm and blues and rock and roll in the 1950s and...
), "
Billie's Bounce"Billie's Bounce" also known as "Bill's Bounce", is a jazz composition written in 1945 by Charlie Parker in the form of an 12 bar F blues. It was dedicated to Billy Shaw by the Yardbird. The original recording by Charlie Parker and His Re-Boppers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.....
", and "Thriving on a Riff".
Shortly afterwards, the Parker/Gillespie band traveled to an unsuccessful engagement at Billy Berg's club in Los Angeles. Most of the group returned to New York, but Parker remained in California, cashing in his return ticket to buy heroin. He experienced great hardship in California, eventually being committed to
Camarillo State Mental HospitalCamarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a psychiatric hospital for both developmentally disabled and mentally ill patients in Camarillo, California. The hospital closed in 1997. The site has been redeveloped as the California State University, Channel Islands...
for a six-month period.
Addiction
Parker's addiction to
heroin, which began in his late teens, caused him to miss gigs and to be fired for being intoxicated. To satisfy his habit, he frequently resorted to
buskingStreet performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
on the streets for drug money, receiving loans from fellow musicians/admirers, pawning his own horn and borrowing other sax players' instruments as a result. Parker's situation was typical of the strong connection between drug abuse and jazz at the time.
Although he produced many brilliant recordings during this period, Parker's behavior became increasingly erratic due to his habit. Heroin was difficult to obtain after he moved to California for a short time where the drug was less abundant, and Parker began to drink heavily to compensate for this. A recording for the
DialDial Records was a United States based record label specializing in bebop jazz. Dial was founded by Ross Russell in 1946, who operated the label for about a decade. Notable artists who recorded for Dial included Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach, and Milt Jackson...
label from July 29, 1946, provides evidence of his condition. Prior to this session, Parker drank about a quart of whiskey. According to the liner notes of
Charlie Parker on Dial Volume 1, Parker missed most of the first two bars of his first chorus on the track, "Max Making Wax." When he finally did come in, he swayed wildly and once spun all the way around, going badly off mic. On the next tune, "Lover Man", producer
Ross RussellRoss Russell was an American jazz producer and author. He was the founder of Dial Records....
physically supported Parker in front of the microphone. On "Bebop" (the final track Parker recorded that evening) he begins a solo with a solid first eight bars. On his second eight bars, however, Parker begins to struggle, and a desperate
Howard McGheeHoward McGhee was one of the very first bebop jazz trumpeters, together with Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro and Idrees Sulieman. He was known for lightning-fast fingers and very high notes...
, the trumpeter on this session, shouts, "Blow!" at Parker. McGhee's bellow is audible on the recording.
Charles MingusCharles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
considered this version of "Lover Man" to be among Parker's greatest recordings despite its flaws. Nevertheless, Parker hated the recording and never forgave Ross Russell for releasing the sub-par performance (and re-recorded the tune in 1951 for
VerveVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
, this time in stellar form, but perhaps lacking some of the passionate emotion in the earlier, problematic attempt).
During the night following the "Lover Man" session, Parker was drinking in his hotel room. He entered the hotel lobby stark naked on several occasions and asked to use the phone, but was refused on each attempt. The hotel manager eventually locked him in his room. At some point during the night, he set fire to his mattress with a cigarette, then ran through the hotel lobby wearing only his socks. He was arrested and committed to
Camarillo State Mental HospitalCamarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a psychiatric hospital for both developmentally disabled and mentally ill patients in Camarillo, California. The hospital closed in 1997. The site has been redeveloped as the California State University, Channel Islands...
, where he remained for six months.
Coming out of the hospital, Parker was initially clean and healthy, and proceeded to do some of the best playing and recording of his career. Before leaving California, he recorded "Relaxin' at Camarillo", in reference to his hospital stay. He returned to New York – and his addiction – and recorded dozens of sides for the
SavoySavoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...
and Dial labels that remain some of the high points of his recorded output. Many of these were with his so-called "classic quintet" including trumpeter
Miles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and drummer
Max RoachMaxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
.
Charlie Parker with strings
A longstanding desire of Parker's was to perform with a string section. He was a keen student of classical music, and contemporaries reported he was most interested in the music and formal innovations of
Igor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, and longed to engage in a project akin to what later became known as
Third StreamThird Stream is a term coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller, within a lecture at Brandeis University, to describe a musical genre which is a synthesis of classical music and jazz...
Music, a new kind of music, incorporating both jazz and classical elements as opposed to merely incorporating a string section into performance of jazz standards. On November 30, 1949,
Norman GranzNorman Granz was an American jazz music impresario and producer.Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960...
arranged for Parker to record an album of ballads with a mixed group of jazz and
chamber orchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
musicians. Six master takes from this session comprised the album
Charlie Parker with StringsCharlie Parker with Strings is a compilation album by jazz musician Charlie Parker, released by Verve Records in January 1995. It is based on recording sessions originally issued as two albums released in 1950 on Mercury Records. The sessions place Parker in the context of a small classical string...
: "
Just Friends"Just Friends" is a popular song that has become a jazz standard. The song was written in 1931 by John Klenner with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis. Although introduced by Red McKenzie and His Orchestra in October 1931, it first became a hit when singer Russ Columbo performed it with Leonard Joy’s...
", "
Everything Happens to MeEverything Happens to Me is a classic pop song written by Tom Adair and Matt Dennis in 1940. It was first recorded by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, featuring his then-singer, Frank Sinatra....
", "
April in Paris"April in Paris" is a song composed by Vernon Duke with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg in 1932 for the Broadway musical, Walk A Little Faster. The original 1933 hit was performed by Freddy Martin, and the 1952 remake was by the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, whose version made the Cashbox Top 50.Composer Alec...
", "
Summertime"Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP....
", "
I Didn't Know What Time It Was"I Didn't Know What Time It Was" is a popular song. The music was written by Richard Rodgers and the lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical Too Many Girls . Early hit versions included Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw...
", and "
If I Should Lose You"If I Should Lose You" is a song composed by Ralph Rainger, with lyrics by Leo Robin. It was introduced in the 1936 film Rose of the Rancho.-Notable recordings:*Georgia Brown - Georgia Brown Sings Gershwin/Georgia Brown...
". The sound of these recordings is rare in Parker's catalog. Parker's improvisations are, in comparison to his usual work, more distilled and economical. His tone is darker and softer than on his small-group recordings, and the majority of his lines are beautiful embellishments on the original melodies rather than harmonically based improvisations. These are among the few recordings Parker made during a brief period when he was able to control his heroin habit, and his sobriety and clarity of mind are evident in his playing. Parker stated that, of his own records,
Bird With Strings was his favorite. Although using classical music instrumentation with jazz musicians was not entirely original, this was the first major work where a composer of bebop was matched with a string orchestra.
Some fans thought this record was a sellout and a pandering to popular tastes. It is now seen to have been artistically as well as commercially successful. While
Charlie Parker with StringsCharlie Parker with Strings is a compilation album by jazz musician Charlie Parker, released by Verve Records in January 1995. It is based on recording sessions originally issued as two albums released in 1950 on Mercury Records. The sessions place Parker in the context of a small classical string...
sold better than his other releases, Parker's version of "Just Friends" is regarded as one of his best performances. In an interview, Parker said he considered it to be his best recording to that date.
Prominence
By 1950, much of the jazz world had fallen under Parker's spell. Many musicians transcribed and copied his solos. Legions of saxophonists imitated his playing note-for-note. In response to these pretenders, Parker's admirer, the bass player
Charles MingusCharles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, titled a tune "Gunslinging Bird" (short for "If Charlie Parker were a Gunslinger, There'd be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats") featured on the album
Mingus DynastyMingus Dynasty is an album by Charles Mingus, recorded and released in 1959, and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.- Track listing :All compositions by Charles Mingus except where noted.# "Slop"# "Diane"# "Song With Orange"...
. In this regard, he is perhaps only comparable to
Louis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
: both men set the standard for their instruments for decades, and few escaped their influence.
In 1953, Parker performed at
Massey HallMassey Hall is a venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The theatre originally was designed to seat 3,500 patrons but, after extensive renovations in the 1940s, now seats up to 2,765....
in
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, joined by Gillespie, Mingus,
Bud PowellEarl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
and
Max RoachMaxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
. Unfortunately, the concert clashed with a televised heavyweight boxing match between
Rocky MarcianoRocky Marciano , born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was an American boxer and the heavyweight champion of the world from September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956. Marciano is the only champion to hold the heavyweight title and go undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times...
and
Jersey Joe WalcottArnold Raymond Cream , better known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He broke the world's record for the oldest man to win the world's Heavyweight title when he earned it at the age of , a record that would be broken on November 5, 1994, by George Foreman, who...
and as a result was poorly attended. Thankfully, Mingus recorded the concert, and the album
Jazz at Massey HallJazz at Massey Hall is a live jazz album featuring a performance by "The Quintet" given on 15 May 1953 at Massey Hall in Toronto. The quintet was composed of several leading 'modern' players of the day: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach...
is often cited as one of the finest recordings of a live jazz performance, with the saxophonist credited as "Charlie Chan" for contractual reasons (Chan being his common-law wife).
At this concert, he played a plastic
Grafton saxophoneThe Grafton saxophone was an injection moulded, cream-coloured acrylic plastic alto saxophone with metal keys, manufactured in London, England by the Grafton company, and later by 'John E. Dallas & Sons Ltd'. Only Grafton altos were ever made, due to the challenges in making larger models with...
(serial number 10265); later, saxophonist
Ornette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
used this brand of plastic sax in his early career. A story recounts that Parker had sold his alto saxophone to buy drugs, and at the last minute, he,
Dizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and other members of Charlie's entourage went running around Toronto trying to find Parker a saxophone. After scouring all the downtown pawn shops open at the time, they were only able to find a Grafton, which Parker proceeded to use at the concert that night. This account however is disputed, especially because Parker in fact owned two of the Grafton plastic horns. At this point in his career he was experimenting with new sounds and new materials. Parker himself explains the purpose of the plastic saxophone in a May 9, 1953 broadcast from Birdland and does so again in subsequent May 1953 broadcast.
Parker was known for often showing up to performances without an instrument, necessitating a loan at the last moment. There are various photos that show him playing a
ConnC.G. Conn Ltd., sometimes called Conn Instruments or commonly just Conn, was a United States manufacturer of musical instruments, especially brass instruments. In 1985 their Strobotuner division was bought by Peterson Electro-Musical Products, who continue to service their line of products.Assets...
6M saxophone, a high quality instrument that was noted for having a very fast action and a unique "underslung" octave key.
Some of the photographs showing Parker with a Conn 6M were taken on separate occasions. because Parker can be seen wearing different clothing and there are different backgrounds. However, other photos exist that show Parker holding
alto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
s with a more conventional octave key arrangement, i.e. mounted above the crook of the saxophone e.g. the Martin Handicraft and
SelmerHenri Selmer Paris company is a French family-owned enterprise, manufacturer of musical instruments based in Paris, France in 1885. It is known for its high-quality woodwind and brass instruments, especially saxophones, clarinets and trumpets...
Model 22 saxophones, among others. Parker is also known to have performed with a
KingKing Musical Instruments was a musical instrument manufacturing company located in Cleveland, Ohio.The company was founded as the H.N. White Company in 1893 by Henderson White, an engraver and instrument repairman. White designed a trombone for Thomas King, a local player...
'Super 20' saxophone, with a semi-underslung octave key that bears some resemblance to those fitted on modern
YanagisawaYanagisawa Wind Instruments is a Japanese woodwind company known for its range of professional grade saxophones. Along with Yamaha they are one of the leading manufacturers of saxophones in Japan....
instruments. Parker's King Super 20 saxophone was made specially for him in 1947.
Death
Parker died in the suite of his friend and patron
Nica de KoenigswarterBaroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter was a British-born jazz patroness and writer. She was a scion of the prominent Rothschild international financial dynasty.-Personal:...
at the
Stanhope Hotel995 Fifth Avenue is a 16-story co-op condominium building at 995 Fifth Avenue and East 81st Street in New York City, across Fifth Avenue from Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was constructed in 1926 as The Stanhope Apartment Hotel and designed by Rosario Candela...
in New York City while watching
The Dorsey BrothersThe Dorsey Brothers were a studio group fronted by musicians Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. They started recording under their name in 1928 with a series of studio recordings for the OKeh label...
' Stage ShowStage Show was a popular music variety series on American television originally hosted on alternate weeks by big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Produced by Jackie Gleason, the CBS-TV show included the first national television appearances by Elvis Presley.The series began as a...
on television. The official causes of death were
lobar pneumoniaLobar pneumonia is a form of pneumonia that affects a large and continuous area of the lobe of a lung.It is one of the two anatomic classifications of pneumonia .- Symptoms :...
and a
bleeding ulcerA perforated ulcer, is a very serious condition where an untreated ulcer can burn through the wall of the stomach , allowing digestive juices and food to leech into the abdominal cavity. Treatment generally requires immediate surgery...
but Parker also had an advanced case of
cirrhosisCirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
and had had a heart attack. Any one of the four ailments could have killed him. The coroner who performed his autopsy mistakenly estimated Parker's 34-year-old body to be between 50 or 60 years of age.
It was well known that Parker never wanted to return to Kansas City, even in death. Parker had told his common-law wife,
ChanChan Woods , well known as Chan Parker, was a wife of jazz musician Charlie Parker and later musician Phil Woods....
, that he did not want to be buried in the city of his birth; that New York was his home and he didn’t want any fuss or memorials when he died. At the time of his death, though, he had not divorced his previous wife Doris, nor had he officially married Chan, which left Parker in the awkward post-mortem situation of having two widows. This complicated the settling of Parker's inheritance and would ultimately serve to frustrate his wish to be quietly interred in his adopted hometown. Dizzy Gillespie was able to take charge of the funeral arrangements that Chan had been putting together and organised a ‘lying-in-state’, a Harlem procession officiated by
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was an American politician and pastor who represented Harlem, New York City, in the United States House of Representatives . He was the first person of African-American descent elected to Congress from New York and became a powerful national politician...
, and a memorial concert before Parker's body was flown back to Missouri to be buried there in accordance with his mother's wishes. Parker was buried at Lincoln Cemetery on Blue Ridge Boulevard at East Truman Road just outside Kansas City, Missouri, in an unincorporated area known as Blue Summit.
Charlie Parker was survived by both his legal wife, Doris (née Doris June Snyder, August 16, 1922 – January 17, 2000), and his partner, Chan; a stepdaughter, Kim, who is also a musician; and a son, Baird; their later lives are chronicled in Chan Parker's autobiography,
My Life in E Flat.
Parker's estate is managed by
CMG WorldwideCMG Worldwide, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana is a multinational intellectual property rights management firm representing the estates of famous deceased people including Marilyn Monroe, Mark Twain, and Babe Ruth...
.
Music
Parker's style of composition involved
interpolationInterpolation in music refers to an abrupt change in musical elements from the main theme.-In classical music:In music and musical composition, especially 20th century and later, interpolation is an abrupt change of elements, with continuation of the first idea...
of original melodies over pre-existing jazz forms and standards, a practice still common in jazz today. Examples include "
Ornithology"Ornithology" is a jazz standard by bebop alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Benny Harris.Its title is a reference to Parker's nickname, "Bird"...
" ("
How High The Moon"How High the Moon" is a jazz standard with lyrics by Nancy Hamilton and music by Morgan Lewis. It was first featured in the 1940 Broadway revue Two for the Show, where it was sung by Alfred Drake and Frances Comstock....
") and "
Yardbird SuiteYardbird Suite is a bebop standard composed by Charlie Parker in 1946. It follows an AABA form. It was used as the title of Lawrence O. Koch's biography of Parker....
" ("What Price Love"). The practice was not uncommon prior to bebop; however, it became a signature of the movement as artists began to move away from arranging popular standards and began to compose their own material.
While tunes such as "Now's The Time", "
Billie's Bounce"Billie's Bounce" also known as "Bill's Bounce", is a jazz composition written in 1945 by Charlie Parker in the form of an 12 bar F blues. It was dedicated to Billy Shaw by the Yardbird. The original recording by Charlie Parker and His Re-Boppers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.....
", and "Cool Blues" were based on conventional 12-bar blues changes, Parker also created a unique version of the 12-bar blues for his tune "
Blues for Alice"Blues for Alice" is a 1956 jazz standard, composed by Charlie Parker. The standard is noted for its rapid bebop blues-style chord voicings and complex harmonic scheme which is a fine example of what is known as "Bird Blues"...
". These unique chords are known popularly as "
Bird ChangesThe Blues for Alice changes, Bird changes, Bird Blues, or New York Blues changes, is a chord progression, often named after Charlie Parker , which is a variation of the twelve-bar blues....
". Like his solos, some of his compositions are characterized by long, complex melodic lines and a minimum of repetition although he did employ the use of repetitive (yet relatively rhythmically complex)
motifsIn music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
in many other tunes as well, most notably "Now's The Time".
Parker also contributed a vast rhythmic vocabulary to the modern jazz solo, one in which
tripletsIn music a tuplet is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that usually permitted by the...
and pick-up notes were used in (then) unorthodox ways to lead into chord tones, affording the soloist with more freedom to use passing tones, which soloists would have previously avoided. Within this context, Parker was admired for his unique style of phrasing and innovative use of rhythm. Via his recordings and the popularity of the posthumously published
Charlie Parker OmnibookThe Charlie Parker Omnibook is a collection of works by the saxophonist Charlie Parker. It is available for E-flat, B-flat, C and for all bass-clef instruments. It includes 60 pieces, transcribed by Jamey Aebersold and Ken Slone, information about the records, and practice suggestions.- References...
, Parker's uniquely identifiable vocabulary of "
licksIn popular music genres such as rock or jazz music, a lick is "a stock pattern or phrase" consisting of a short series of notes that is used in solos and melodic lines...
" and "
riffThe Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
s" dominated jazz for many years to come. Today his ideas are routinely analyzed by jazz students and are part of any player's basic jazz vocabulary.
Awards and recognitions
Grammy Award
Charlie Parker Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
History |
| Year |
Category |
Title |
Genre |
Label |
Result |
| 1974 |
Best Performance By A Soloist |
First Recordings! |
Jazz |
Onyx |
Winner |
Grammy Hall of Fame
Recordings of Charlie Parker were inducted into the
Grammy Hall of FameThe Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance"...
, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."
| Charlie Parker: Grammy Hall of Fame Awards |
| Year Recorded |
Title |
Genre |
Label |
Year Inducted |
| 1945 |
"Billie's Bounce "Billie's Bounce" also known as "Bill's Bounce", is a jazz composition written in 1945 by Charlie Parker in the form of an 12 bar F blues. It was dedicated to Billy Shaw by the Yardbird. The original recording by Charlie Parker and His Re-Boppers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.....
" |
Jazz (Single) |
Savoy |
2002 |
| 1953 |
Jazz at Massey Hall Jazz at Massey Hall is a live jazz album featuring a performance by "The Quintet" given on 15 May 1953 at Massey Hall in Toronto. The quintet was composed of several leading 'modern' players of the day: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach...
|
Jazz (Album) |
Debut |
1995 |
| 1946 |
"Ornithology "Ornithology" is a jazz standard by bebop alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Benny Harris.Its title is a reference to Parker's nickname, "Bird"...
" |
Jazz (Single) |
Dial |
1989 |
| 1950 |
Charlie Parker with Strings Charlie Parker with Strings is a compilation album by jazz musician Charlie Parker, released by Verve Records in January 1995. It is based on recording sessions originally issued as two albums released in 1950 on Mercury Records. The sessions place Parker in the context of a small classical string...
|
Jazz (Album) |
Mercury |
1988 |
Inductions
|
| Year Inducted |
Title |
| 2004 |
Jazz at Lincoln Center: Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame |
| 1984 |
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."...
|
| 1979 |
Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame |
National Recording Registry
In 2002, the
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
honored his recording "Ko-Ko" (1945) by adding it to the
National Recording Registry.
U.S. Postage Stamp
|
| Year Issued |
Stamp |
USA |
Note |
| 1995 |
32 cents Commemorative stamp |
U.S. Postal Stamps |
Photo (Scott #2987) |
Musical tributes
- Lennie Tristano
Leonard Joseph Tristano was a jazz pianist, composer and teacher of jazz improvisation. He performed in the cool jazz, bebop, post bop and avant-garde jazz genres. He remains a somewhat overlooked figure in jazz history, but his enormous originality and dazzling work as an improviser have long...
's overdubbed solo piano piece "Requiem" was recorded in tribute to Parker shortly after his death. It begins with a classically-tinged introduction, and then turns into a slow blues that gradually accumulates layers of overdubbing – one of the earliest experiments in jazz with multiple overdubbing.
- Deeply touched by Charlie Parker's death, street musician Moondog
Moondog, born Louis Thomas Hardin , was a blind American composer, musician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments. Moving to New York as a young man, Moondog made a deliberate decision to make his home on the streets there, where he spent approximately twenty of the thirty years he...
wrote his famous "Bird's Lament" in his memory. Moondog affirmed that he had met Charlie Parker in the streets of New York and that they had planned to jam together.
- The Californian ensemble Supersax
Supersax was a Charlie Parker tribute band formed by Med Flory and Buddy Clark that debuted in 1972. Their music consisted of harmonized arrangements of Charlie Parker's music played by a saxophone section , rhythm section, and a brass instrument...
harmonized many of Parker's improvisations for a five-piece saxophone section, which to many listeners bring new life to them, whereas others consider the arrangements as somewhat constructed.
- Saxophonist Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
recorded a tribute concert for Parker, and in an interview stated that he thought Parker had said everything he needed to say.
- Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
's jazz fusion track and highly acclaimed big band standard "Birdland"Birdland" is a jazz daddy instrumental composition by keyboardist Joe Zawinul that debuted on the Weather Report album Heavy Weather in 1977...
", from the Heavy WeatherThe album received positive reviews since its publication. American music journalist Richard Ginell gave the album the maximum rating, five stars out of five, and concluded his review for Allmusic by stating that, "[r]eleased just as the jazz-rock movement began to run out of steam, this landmark...
album (1977), was a dedication by bandleader Joe ZawinulJosef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
to both Charlie Parker and the New York 52nd Street club itself. The piece featured Jaco PastoriusJohn Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
playing electric fretless bass. (Pastorius had made a name for himself when he included on his debut solo album an astounding rendition of the Charlie Parker and Miles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
standard "Donna Lee"Donna Lee" is a bebop jazz standard composed by Miles Davis. It was written in A flat and is based on the chord changes of the traditional jazz standard " Indiana". One unusual feature of the tune is that it begins with a half-bar rest...
".) The Manhattan TransferThe Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...
made a vocaleseVocalese is a style or genre of jazz singing wherein lyrics are written for melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation. Whereas scat singing uses improvised nonsense syllables, such as "bap ba dee dot bwee dee" in solos, vocalese uses lyrics, either...
cover version of the composition with lyrics by Jon HendricksJon Hendricks is an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is considered one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists...
.
- In 2003 various artists including Serj Tankian and Dan the Automator put out Bird Up: The Charlie Parker Remix Project. This album created new songs by remixing Charlie Parker's originals.
- The biographical song "Parker's Band" was recorded by Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
on its 1974 album Pretzel LogicPretzel Logic is the third studio album by the American jazz-rock band Steely Dan, originally released in 1974. The album's opening song, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", became the band's biggest hit, reaching #4 on the charts soon after the release of the album. The album itself went gold, and...
.
- British jazz-rock band If
If was a progressive rock band formed in Britain in 1969.Referred to by Billboard as "unquestionably the best of the so-called jazz-rock bands", in the period spanning 1970-1975, they produced 8 studio-recorded albums and did some 17 tours of Europe, the US and Canada.-History:They toured...
paid tribute to Parker in the title track of their last album, Tea Break Over, Back on Your 'EadsTea Break Over, Back on Your 'Eads, released in 1975, was the eighth and final studio album by British jazz-rock band If. It was followed by compilation CDs covering tracks from the first four LPs featuring the band's previous line-up....
(1975), including a Parker-styled saxophone solo and the lyrics "The Bird was the man to be heard" and "The music was the word".
- The avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
trombonist George LewisGeorge E. Lewis is a trombone player, composer, and scholar in the fields of jazz and experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians since 1971, and is a pioneer of computer music.- Biography :Lewis graduated from Yale University with a...
recorded Homage to Charles Parker (1979), an album that offers a unique combination of electronic music and the blues.
- TISM
TISM was a seven piece anonymous alternative rock band from Melbourne, Australia. The group was formed in 1982 and enjoyed a large underground/independent following. Their third album Machiavelli and the Four Seasons reached the Australian national top 10 in 1995...
's The White AlbunThe White Albun is the final studio album by Australian alternative rock band TISM. The title is a reference to and deliberate misspelling of The White Album, an unofficial name for the album The Beatles....
(2004) contains the song "Tonight Harry's Practice Visits the Home of Charlie 'Bird' Parker". The song focuses on celebrity resentmentA celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
and the possibility that taking drugs will make the otherwise dull celebrities more interesting. The title of the song refers to Australian televisionTelevision in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with stations 3DB and 3UZ using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donal McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934....
show Harry's Practice and, more specifically, the segment where Dr. Harry Cooper would visit a celebrity, in this case, the visit is to Charlie "Bird" Parker's house.
- Sparks
Sparks is an American rock and pop band formed in Los Angeles in 1968 by brothers Ron and Russell Mael , initially under the name Halfnelson...
released the song "(When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing" on their 1994 album Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins, which prominently features Charlie Parker's name in the lyrics and makes references to his saxophone playing.
- Duane Allman
Howard Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...
devised a unique slide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
technique that enabled him to mimic the sounds of chirping birds, stating in at least one interview that this was his tribute to Parker. This can be heard in numerous live recordings, most notably "Mountain Jam"Mountain Jam" is an improvised instrumental jam by The Allman Brothers Band. The song's first known recording is on 5-4-1969 at Macon Central Park, but was officially released later on the albums; Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970, Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970, The...
" on The Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
's CDs Eat a PeachEat a Peach is a 1972 double album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band; it was the last to include founding member and lead slide-guitar player Duane Allman, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 while the album was being recorded.-History:This album...
and The Fillmore Concerts (shortly before the drum interlude). Another, more delicate, version is in the song "Finding Her" on Boz ScaggsWilliam Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
' self-titled debut album, first released in 1969. This technique can also be heard at the end of Derek & the Dominos 1970 hit "Layla"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally released by their blues-rock band, Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs...
" on which Allman played.
- The Only World by poet Lynda Hull
Lynda Hull was a United States poet. She had published two collections of poetry when she died in a car accident in 1994. A third, The Only World , was published posthumously by her husband, the poet David Wojahn, and was a finalist for the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award...
includes the poem "Ornithology" about Charlie Parker.
- The poem "Song for Bird and Myself" by Jack Spicer
Jack Spicer was an American poet often identified with the San Francisco Renaissance. In 2009, My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer won the American Book Award for poetry.-Life and work:...
was written in memory of Charlie Parker.
- The song Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come, on the album Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs is an American magazine and website on international relations and U.S. foreign policy published since 1922 by the Council on Foreign Relations six times annually...
by Tom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
has a line that goes: with charlie parker on the bandstand not a worry in the world.
- In the song "Can't Stop" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, the lyrics refer to Parker with the line "birds that blow the meaning into bebop."
- Richard Thompson references Charlie Parker in his song "Outside of the Inside" on the album The Old Kit Bag (2005).
- Charlie Parker is referenced in the song "Rothko Chapel" by David Dondero
David Dondero is an American songwriter, guitarist, former lead singer of the band Sunbrain. In 2006, NPR's All Songs Considered named David one of the "best living songwriters" alongside Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Tom Waits...
on the album Simple Love (2007).
- Harry Chapin references Charlie Parker in the song 'There Only Was One Choice' from the 'Dance Band On The Titanic' album.
- Refused
Refused was a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1991. In total the band released five EPs and three albums, before splitting up in 1998...
included live recordings of Parker at the end of the song "Liberation Frequency" and transitioned it into "The Deadly Rhythm" on the album The Shape of Punk to ComeThe Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts is the third and final album released by Swedish hardcore punk band Refused, which was released in October 1998 through Burning Heart Records...
.
- Spanish rock band Saratoga wrote a song "Charlie se fue" ("Charlie is Gone") as a tribute to Parker. It is included in its 1999 album Vientos de Guerra. So song's lyrics begin: "Antes que Malcom y King, que Lennon, en Kansas City surgio la estrella." ("Before Malcolm and King
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, before LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, in Kansas City arose the Star".)
Charlie Parker Residence
From 1950 to 1954, Parker and his common-law wife, Chan Richardson, lived in the ground floor of the townhouse at 151 Avenue B, between East 9th and
10th Street10th Street is an east-west street from the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan to Avenue D in the East Village. East of Sixth Avenue it changes heading, from east-northeast to east-southeast. Traffic is eastbound as far as Tompkins Square Park, of which it marks...
s across from
Tompkins Square ParkTompkins Square Park is a 10.5 acre public park in the Alphabet City section of the East Village neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is square in shape, and is bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on the...
in the
Alphabet CityAlphabet City may refer to:*Alphabet City, Manhattan, a neighborhood in New York City*Alphabet City , a 1987 album by the band ABC*Alphabet City , a 1984 crime drama film directed by Amos Poe...
section of the
East VillageThe East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
neighborhood of
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The
Gothic RevivalThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
building, which was built c.1849, was added to the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1994, and was designated a
New York City landmark in 1999. In addition, in 1992, Avenue B between East 7th and 10th Streets was renamed
Charlie Parker Place in 1992.
Other tributes
- The 1985 film Round Midnight
Round Midnight is a 1986 film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and written by David Rayfiel and Bertrand Tavernier. It tells the story of an African American tenor saxophone player in Paris in the 1950s who is befriended by an unsuccessful French graphic designer who idolizes the musician and who...
included a character who was the daughter of the main character (Dexter Gordon) whose name was "Chan", and the end theme was titled "Chan's Song", written by Herbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
. Chan was the name of Parker's common-law wife when he died.
- In 1949, the New York night club Birdland
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...
was named in his honor. Three years later, George ShearingSir George Shearing, OBE was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s...
wrote "Lullaby of Birdland"Lullaby of Birdland" is a 1952 popular song with music by George Shearing and lyrics by George David Weiss under the pseudonym "B. Y. Forster" in order to circumvent the rule that ASCAP and BMI composers could not collaborate....
", named for both Parker and the nightclub.
- A memorial to Parker was dedicated in 1999 in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
at 17th Terrace and The Paseo, near the American Jazz MuseumThe American Jazz Museum is a jazz museum in the United States. Located in the historic 18th and Vine district in Kansas City, Missouri, in a building also housing the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, it preserves the history of the American music: jazz. The museum features exhibits on Charlie...
located at 18th and Vine, featuring a 10 feet (3 m) tall bronze head sculpted by Robert GrahamRobert Graham was a sculptor based in the state of California in the United States. His monumental bronzes commemorate the human figure and are featured in public places across America.-Biography:...
.
- The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival
Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is a free, two-day festival in New York City that celebrates the life and musical genius of Charlie Parker. Produced by the nonprofit organization City Parks Foundation, the longstanding jazz festival takes place every August in the neighborhoods that Parker both...
is a free two-day music festival which takes place every summer on the last weekend of August in Manhattan, New York City at Marcus Garvey ParkMarcus Garvey Park, or Mount Morris Park as it is referred to by the people in the neighborhood, is located in Harlem in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park interrupts the flow of Fifth Avenue, which is routed around the park via Mount Morris Park West. The park is bounded by 120th...
in HarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
and Tompkins Square ParkTompkins Square Park is a 10.5 acre public park in the Alphabet City section of the East Village neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is square in shape, and is bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on the...
in the Lower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, sponsored by the non-profit organization City Parks FoundationCity Parks Foundation is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer programs in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York City...
. The festival marked its 17th anniversary in 2009.
- Every August, the Tribes Gallery in New York's Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
sponsors a Charlie Parker Festival that includes musical performances, art exhibits, poetry readings.
- Every weekday morning, disc jockey Phil Schaap
Phil Schaap is an American jazz disc jockey, historian, archivist and producer. He hosts a daily morning radio program on 89.9 FM New York, WKCR, the radio station of Columbia University, his alma mater, in New York City. The show, called Bird Flight, is broadcast from 8:20 am–9:30 am on weekdays...
plays Parker's music on WKCRWKCR-FM is a radio station. Licensed to New York, New York, USA, it serves the New York area. The station is currently owned by Trustees of Columbia University in New York.-History:...
in New York. His show, called Birdflight, is devoted to Parker's music and has been running since 1981.
- In one of his most famous short story collections, Las armas secretas (The Secret Weapons), Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar, born Jules Florencio Cortázar, was an Argentine writer. Cortázar, known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, influenced an entire generation of Spanish speaking readers and writers in the Americas and Europe.-Early life:Cortázar's parents, Julio José Cortázar and...
dedicated "El perseguidor" ("The Pursuer") to the memory of Charlie Parker. This piece examines the last days of Johnny, a drug-addict saxophonist, through the eyes of Bruno, his biographer. Some qualify this story as one of Cortazar's masterpieces in the genre.
- A biographical film called Bird
Bird is a 1988 American biographical film, produced and directed by Clint Eastwood of a screenplay written by Joel Oliansky. The film is a tribute to the life and music of jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker...
, starring Forest WhitakerForest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...
as Parker and directed by Clint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, was released in 1988.
- In 1984, legendary modern dance choreographer Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey, Jr. was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance...
created the piece For Bird – With Love in honor of Parker. The piece chronicles his life, from his early career to his failing health.
- In 2005, the Selmer
Selmer can refer to:People*Elisabeth Schweigaard Selmer, Norwegian judge and politician*Ernst S. Selmer, Norwegian mathematician*Ernst W. Selmer, Norwegian phoneticist*Christian August Selmer, Norwegian lawyer and statesmanOther...
Paris saxophone manufacturer commissioned a special "Tribute to Bird" alto saxophone, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Charlie Parker (1955–2005). This saxophone will be built until 2010, each one featuring a unique engraving and an original design.
- Parker's performances of "I Remember You" and "Parker's Mood" were selected by Harold Bloom
Harold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, and is Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. He is known for his defense of 19th-century Romantic poets, his unique and controversial theories of poetic influence, and his prodigious literary output, particularly for a literary...
for inclusion on his short list of the "twentieth-century American Sublime", the greatest works of American art produced in the 20th century.
- Parker is referenced in Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
's On the RoadOn the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...
as being a major influence of the Bop movement; at the time, Kerouac's character watches a performance of Parker at a club in downtown Chicago.
- The Oris Watch Company created a limited edition timepiece in Charlie Parker's name. The watch features the word "bird" at the 4 o'clock hour, in honor of Parker's nickname and signifying "Jazz, until 4 in the morning".
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
created many pieces to honour Charlie Parker, including Charles the First, CPRKR and Discography I.
- In 1995, Live Bird
Live Bird is a one-man show written by playwright, actor and musician Jeff Robinson celebrating the life of jazz legend Charlie Parker. The play is set in a bar in New York City the summer of 1947...
, a one-man play about Charlie Parker, written and performed by actor/saxophonist Jeff Robinson, made its premier at the Institute of Contemporary ArtThe Institute of Contemporary Art is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The museum was founded in 1936 with a mission to exhibit contemporary art.-Mission:...
in Boston, Massachusetts.
- A Far Side
The Far Side is a popular single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995. Its surrealistic humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world,...
cartoon published on Parker's birthday in 1990 titled "Charlie Parker's private hell" shows him locked in a recording booth, screaming, while a whistling devilThe Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
pipes in nothing but new age musicNew Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
.
- Charley Parker, the real name of comic book character Golden Eagle
Golden Eagle is the name of two fictional characters published by DC Comics. The first Golden Eagle was introduced in Justice League of America #116 , and was created by Cary Bates and Dick Dillin. He joined Titans West in Teen Titans Golden Eagle is the name of two fictional characters...
, is a reference to Parker.
- In an episode of Cowboy Bebop
is a critically acclaimed and award-winning 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: set in 2071, the series follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of five bounty...
, Jet Black dreams that Parker tells him, "Only hands can wash hands. If you want to receive, you have to give."
- In an episode of Metalocolypse William Murderface of the band Dethklok
Dethklok is both a virtual band featured in the Adult Swim animated program Metalocalypse, as well as a real band created to perform the band's melodic death metal music in live shows. The band was created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon...
is heard to be singing his own tribute to Charlie Parker while drunk in a bar in the opening minutes of an episode. The lyrics included "Stand up U.S.A, stand up like Charlie Parker stood up, stand up Charlie Parker style..."
- Owen Dodson
Owen Vincent Dodson was an American poet, novelist, and playwright. He was one of the leading African American poets of his time, associated with the generation of black poets following the Harlem Renaissance....
wrote a poem whose title itself indicates the tribute. It is called "Yardbird's Skull".
- On the Del Close
Del Close was an actor, improviser, writer, and teacher. Considered one of the premier influences on modern improvisational theater, Close had a prolific career, appearing in a number of films and television shows...
recording How to Speak HipHow to Speak Hip was a comedy album by Del Close and John Brent, released by Mercury Records in 1959. The album is designed as a satire of language-learning records, where the secret language of the 'hipster' is treated as a foreign language...
, John Brent's character, Geets Romo, says it is "uncool to claim you used to run with Bird, or that you have Bird's ax, and you know, it's even less cool to ask, 'Who is Bird?'" This is also sampled in the 1994 Hans DulferHans Dulfer is a Dutch jazz musician who plays tenor saxophone.Hans Dulfer was born on 28 May 1940 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He began at age 17 and has been referred to as "Big boy" because of his album of the same name. At the end of the sixties he and Herbert Noord founded a quartet that...
song "Jazz Disaster (Cool)".
- Parker plays at a night club in The Subterraneans
The Subterraneans is a 1958 novella by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. It is a semi-fictional account of his short romance with an African American woman named Alene Lee in San Francisco in 1953. In the novel she is renamed "Mardou Fox," and described as a carefree spirit who frequents the...
by Jack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
. He appears in other works by Kerouac as well.
- In episode 16 of The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...
, Charlie Parker's rare "Yardbird" LP can be seen on one of the racks in the Nabootique.
- The protagonist in John Connolly
John Connolly is an Irish writer who is best known for his series of novels starring private detective Charlie Parker.-Life and works:...
's series of crime novels is named Charlie Parker and even shares the nickname "Bird."
- Charlie Watts
Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.-Early life:...
, drummer for the Rolling Stones, wrote a children's book entitled "Ode to a High Flying Bird" as a tribute to Parker. Watts has cited Parker as a major influence in his life as a young man learning to play jazz.
External links