Biography of Charlie Parker

1074 Words3 Pages

Biography of Charlie Parker

One of a handful of musicians who can be said to have permanently

changed jazz, Charlie Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of

all time. He could play remarkably fast lines that, if slowed down to

half speed, would reveal that every note made sense.

Charles Christopher Parker was born on 29 August 1920, in Kansas City,

USA. Although he was born on the Kansas side of the state line, Parker

was actually raised across the Kaw River in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kansas City was where jazz and other forms of black music were

flourishing.His nickname was originally "Yardbird" due to his

propensity for eating fried chicken - later this was shortened to the

more poetic "Bird". Musicians talk of first hearing his alto saxophone

as if it were a religious conversion. Charlie Parker changed the face

of jazz and shaped the course of twentieth-century music.

Kansas City saxophonists were a competitive bunch. Ben Webster and

Herschel Evans both came from Kansas. Before they became national

celebrities they would challenge visiting sax stars to "blowing

matches". It is this artistically fruitful sense of competition that

provided Charlie Parker with his look. Live music could be heard at

all hours of the night, a situation resulting from lax application of

prohibition laws.

He first played baritone horn before switching to alto. Parker was so

infatuated with the rich Kansas City music scene that he dropped out

of school when he was 14 even though his musicianship at that point

was questionable (with his ideas coming out faster than his fingers

could play them). A premature appearance at the High Hat Club - w...

... middle of paper ...

...ying at the Town Hall months before his death in March

1955 was "as great as any period in his career". His last public

appearance was on 4 March 1955, at Birdland, the club named after him:

it was a fiasco - Parker and pianist Bud Powell rowed onstage, the

latter storming off followed shortly by bass player Charles Mingus.

Disillusioned, obese and racked by illness, Parker died eight days

later in the hotel suite of Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, a

wealthy aristocrat and stalwart bebop fan.

Charlie Parker, who was a legendary figure during his lifetime, has if

anything grown in stature since his death. Clint Eastwood put together

a well-intentioned if simplified movie about aspects of his

life.Parker's influence on jazz was immense.

Bibliography

www.vh1.com

www.rollingstone.com

www.duke.edu

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