Jazz musician, born in Kansas City, Kansas, USA. (His name sometimes appears as Charles Christopher Parker Jr, a misnomer.) An only child, he was raised by his mother in Kansas City, MO, an important centre of jazz and blues activity in the 1930s. He received his first music lessons on the baritone horn in public schools in 1931, and three years later he dropped out of school to concentrate on mastering the alto saxophone and watching Lester Young, Count Basie, Hot Lips Page, and other locally based musicians.
In 1936 he spent the summer playing in the Ozarks with George E Lee's band, and that same year he entered the first of his four legal or common law marriages, became a father, and developed an addiction to heroin. During 19379 he played in Kansas City with Lawrence Keyes, Tommy Douglas, Harland Leonard, and his mentor Buster Smith, and he was an inveterate participant in the city's competitive jam sessions. He spent most of 1939 in New York, where he frequently heard the virtuoso pianist Art Tatum and began working out the rhythmic and harmonic ideas that would form the basis of modern jazz. In 19402 he began gaining attention as a featured member on recordings and broadcasts with Jay McShann, and played briefly with the big bands of Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine (19434), where he was a galvanizing figure among his rebellious colleagues, including Dizzy Gillespie.
The year 1945 marked a turning point in his career: he led his own group in New York, made many combo recordings in the new and controversial bebop style, and played extensively with Gillespie. In December 1945 they played an unsuccessful engagement in Hollywood, but Parker remained in Los Angeles. In June 1946 he suffered a nervous breakdown related to his drug addiction and alcoholism, and he was confined for six months at Camarillo State Hospital. He made a triumphant return to New York (1947) and formed his celebrated quintet featuring Miles Davis and Max Roach. For the next four years he worked almost exclusively in New York, and recorded the majority of his most famous performances. He toured in Europe (194950), and was showcased in a variety of settings, including a string ensemble, a big band, and Afro-Cuban bands in New York clubs and concert halls and on records.
By 1951 he was the most influential jazz musician in the world, but his notoriety as a heroin addict had also become legendary, and the New York police withdrew his cabaret card, a requisite to working in New York nightclubs. Thereafter, he adopted a more itinerant lifestyle, playing with pick-up groups in Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, Chicago, and in California, and appearing as guest soloist with bands led by Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. His cabaret card was reinstated in late 1953, but by then he was beset by only sporadic employment, debt, and failing physical and mental health. He twice attempted suicide (1954), and voluntarily committed himself to Bellevue Hospital in New York. His last public appearance was on 5 March 1955 at Birdland, the club that had been named in his honour in 1949, and he died seven days later. His chaotic life formed the basis for the 1987 Clint Eastwood-directed film, Bird.
Charles "Bird" Parker, Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Early in his career Parker was dubbed "Yardbird" (there are many contradictory stories of its origin). It was later shortened to "Bird" and remained Parker's nickname for the rest of his life and inspiration for the titles of his works, such as "Yardbird Suite" and "Bird Feathers".
A persistent myth, repeated by many reputable sources, including the Encyclopedia Britannica, is that Christopher was Parker's second Christian name.
Place in jazz history
Parker is commonly considered one of the greatest jazz musicians; Jazz critic Scott Yanow speaks for many jazz fans and musicians when he states that "Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time." A founding figure of bebop, Parker's innovative approach to melody, rhythm and harmony was enormously influential on his contemporaries, and his music remains an inspiration and resource for contemporary jazz musicians of all stripes. Several of Parker's songs have become standards of the repertoire.
Parker also became an icon for the Beat generation, and was a pivotal figure in the evolving conception of the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual, rather than just a popular entertainer. At various times, Parker fused jazz with other musical styles, from classical (seeking to study with Edgard Varèse and Stefan Wolpe) to Latin music (recordings with Machito), blazing paths followed later by others.
Parker's soaring, fast, rhythmically asymmetrical improvisations could amaze the listener; Parker's harmonic ideas were revolutionary, introducing a new tonal vocabulary employing 9ths, 11ths and 13ths of chords, rapidly implied passing chords, and new variants of altered chords and chord substitutions. Although many Parker recordings demonstrate dazzling virtuoso technique and complex melodic lines — the early "Ko-Ko" is a superb example — 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, as fundamental as Armstrong's classic "West End Blues."
Biography
Childhood
Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kansas and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. There is no evidence that Parker showed unusual musical talent as a child.
Parker began playing the saxophone at age 11 and then at age 14 he joined his school's band. Groups led by Count Basie and Bennie Moten were the leading Kansas City ensembles, and doubtlessly 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 Smith, whose dynamic transitions to double and triple time certainly influenced Parker's developing style. In 1937 Parker joined pianist Jay McShann's territory band , and was able to tour with him to the nightclubs and other venues of the southwest region of the USA, as well as Chicago and New York City . Parker made his recording debut with McShann's band.
In NYC
In 1939, Parker moved to New York City. (Parker's later playing was in some ways reminiscent of Tatum's, with dazzling, high-speed arpeggios and sophisticated use of harmony.)
In 1942 Parker left McShann's band and played with Earl Hines for eight months. Nevertheless we know that Parker was one of a group of young musicians who congregated in after-hours clubs in Harlem such as Minton's (Minton's Playhouse) and Monroe's. The beboppers' attitude was summed up in a famous quotation attributed to Monk by Mary Lou Williams: "We wanted a music that they couldn't play" — "they" being either the (white) bandleaders who had taken over and profited from swing music and or unwelcome fellow musicians wishing to jam with Parker, Gillespie and others.
Bebop
By now, Parker was emerging as a leading figure in the nascent bebop scene. 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 building chords on the higher intervals of the tune's harmonies. It wasn't until 1945 that Parker's collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie had a substantial impact on the jazz world.
On November 26, 1945 Parker led a record date for the Savoy label, which was once marketed, during the LP era, as the "greatest Jazz session ever". Parker's addiction is prime example of the many connections between narcotics and jazz during this period.
Although he produced many brilliant recordings during this period, Parker's behavior became increasingly erratic.
A few days after the "Lover Man" session, Parker was drinking in his hotel room when he set fire to his mattress with a cigarette, then ran through the hotel lobby wearing only his socks.
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.
Parker's soaring, fast, rhythmically asymmetrical improvisations could amaze the listener; Parker's harmonic ideas were revolutionary, introducing a new tonal vocabulary employing 9ths, 11ths and 13ths of chords, rapidly implied passing chords, and new variants of altered chords and chord substitutions. Although many Parker recordings demonstrate dazzling virtuoso technique and complex melodic lines — the early "Ko-Ko" is a superb example — 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, as fundamental as Armstrong's classic "West End Blues", from only twenty years before.
Despite many of the compositions which bear his name being based on earlier pieces from the American songbook, Parker's legacy as a deviser of jazz standards is significant.
Stardom
By 1950, much of the jazz world was under Parker's sway. legions of saxophonists imitated his playing note-for-note (in response to these pretenders, Parker's erstwhile bandmate Charles Mingus titled a song "If Charlie Parker were a Gunslinger, There'd Be A Whole Lot of Dead Copycats" featured on the album Mingus Dynasty.) In this regard, he is perhaps only comparable to Louis Armstrong: both men set the standard for their instruments for decades, and very few escaped their influence.
In 1953, Parker was invited to perform at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada, where he was joined by Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell and Max Roach.
One of Parker's longstanding desires was to perform with a string section; Time demonstrated Parker's move a wise one: Charlie Parker with Strings sold better than his other releases, and his version of "Just Friends" is seen as one of his best performances.
Parker was known for often showing up to performances without an instrument and borrowing someone else's at the last moment.
Parker died while watching Tommy Dorsey on television in the suite at the Stanhope Hotel belonging to his friend and patroness Nica de Koenigswarter. The 34-year-old Parker was so haggard that the coroner mistakenly estimated Parker's age to be between 50 and 60.
Parker left a widow, Chan Parker, a daughter, Kim Parker, who is also a musician, and a son, Baird Parker, who died in the Vietnam War.
The mythic Charlie "Bird" Parker
The legend "Bird Lives" first appeared as graffiti in New York City subways, a few hours after Parker's passing.
In Julio Cortazar's short story El perseguidor (The pursuer) from his book Las armas secretas (The secret weapons) the fictional characters are Johnny Carter (Charlie Parker), Lan (Chan) and Marquess Tica (Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter) and Lover Man session is remembered as Amorous session.
A Far Side cartoon entitled "Charlie Parker's private hell" shows him locked in a recording booth while the devil pipes in nothing but new age music.
Charlie Parker has been an inspiration to many people including John Coltrane, Michael Brecker, Jaco Pastorius, and Yo-Yo Ma. Deeply touched by Charlie Parker's death, Moondog 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. Lennie Tristano's overdubbed solo piano piece "Requiem" was recorded in tribute to Parker shortly after his death. In New York City, Avenue B between 7th and 10th Streets is named Charlie Parker Place. The Californian ensemble "Supersax" has 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 recorded a tribute concert for Parker, and in an interview stated that he thought Parker had said everything he needed to say. A biographical song entitled "Parker's Band" was recorded by Steely Dan on their 1974 album Pretzel Logic. Charlie Parker is also mentioned in a song by Jethro Tull called "From a Dead Beat to an Old Greaser" Weather Report's 1977 Jazz Fusion track and highly acclaimed Big Band Standard "Birdland" was a dedication by bandleader Joe Zawinul to both Charlie Parker and the New York 52nd Street Club itself. The piece also featured Jaco Pastorius 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 Davis standard 'Donna Lee', no doubt a tribute to the late genius himself). A memorial to Parker was dedicated in 1999 in Kansas City at 17th Terrace and the Paseo, next to the American Jazz Museum featuring a 10-foot tall bronze head sculpted by Robert Graham. Parker's performances of "I Remember You" and "Parker's Mood" were selected by Harold Bloom for inclusion on his short list of the twentieth-century American Sublime. The song focuses on celebrity resentment and the possibility that taking drugs, like Parker did, will make the otherwise dull celebrities more interesting. The title of the song refers to Australian television 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. In 2005, the Selmer Paris saxophone manufacturer commissioned a special "Tribute to Bird" alto saxophone, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Charlie Parker (1955-2005). Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Charlie Parker In August each year, there is a Charlie Parker Festival at Tribes Gallery in New York ( 285 third street, NY, NY 10009 ) in celebration of his life and career.
Selected discography
Parker made extensive recordings for three labels — Savoy and Dial best document his early work, while Verve is representative of his later career:
Savoy (1944-1949) Dial (1945-1947) Verve (1946-1954)Many live recordings, of varying quality, are also available. Dizzy (1945, first released in 2005) Bird and Diz at Carnegie Hall (1947) Bird on 52nd Street (1948) Jazz at the Philharmonic (1949) Charlie Parker All Stars Live at the Royal Roost (1949) One Night in Birdland (1950) Bird at the High Hat (1953) Charlie Parker at Storyville (1953) Jazz At Massey Hall (1953)
Special mention should be made of the legendary Dean Benedetti recordings, a huge trove of live material recorded by an obsessive fan. "Charlie Parker: His Music and Life" (paperpack ed.). "The Charlie Parker Companion" (1st ed.). Parker, Charlie, Jamie Aebersold (editor) (1978). "Charlie Parker Omnibook". Hard Times of Charlie (Yardbird) Parker".
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