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Charles "Bird" Parker, Jr. ( for the rest of his life and inspiration for the titles of his works, such as "Yardbird Suite," "Ornithology," and "Bird Feathers". PLACE IN JAZZ HISTORY Parker is commonly considered one of the greatest jazz musicians, ranked with such players as , Parker's innovative approaches to Melody , Rhythm , and Harmony were enormously influential on his contemporaries, and his music remains an inspiration and resource for musicians in jazz as well as in other genres. Several of Parker's songs have become Standards , such as "Billie's Bounce," "Anthropology," "Ornithology," and "Confirmation". 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. His 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. His tone was clean and penetrating, but sweet and plaintive on ballads. Although many Parker recordings demonstrate dazzling virtuoso technique and complex melodic lines — such as "Koko," "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, as fundamental as Armstrong's " West End Blues ." BIOGRAPHY Childhood in Kansas City]] Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kansas and raised in Kansas City, Missouri . He was the only child of Charles and Addie Parker. Charles was often absent because of his alcoholic lifestyle. A persistent myth, repeated by many reputable sources, including the '' Encyclopædia Britannica '', is that Christopher was Parker's second Christian name. Charlie Parker displayed no sign of musical talent as a child. Parker's father presumably provided some musical influence; he was a Pianist , dancer and singer on the T.O.B.A. circuit, although he later became a Pullman waiter or chef on the railways. His mother worked nights at the local Western Union . His biggest influence however was a young trombone player who taught him the basics of improvisation. Parker began playing the saxophone at age 11 and then at age 14 he joined his school's band using a rented school instrument. One story goes that Parker, having never been taught formally, was terrible, and thrown out of the band. Experiencing occasional discouragements of this sort, at one point Parker broke off his already constant practicing. In 1937 Parker played at a concert that included and New York City . {Link without Title} {Link without Title} Parker made his recording debut with McShann's band. In NYC In 1939 , Parker moved to New York City . There he pursued a career in music, but held several other jobs as well. One of these was as a dishwasher, making $9 a week, at Jimmie's Chicken Shack, a restaurant where famous pianist Art Tatum was playing at the time. (Parker's later style was in some ways reminiscent of Tatum's, with dazzling, high-speed Arpeggio s and sophisticated use of Harmony .) In 1942 Parker left McShann's band and played with music and or unwelcome fellow musicians wishing to jam with Parker, Gillespie and others. The group played in venues on the now famous 52nd Street including Three Deuces and The Onyx. In his time in NYC, he also learned much from notable music teacher Maury Deutsch . Bebop By now, Parker was emerging as a leading figure in the emerging 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 on the chords' Extended Intervals , such as Ninth s, Eleventh s, and Thirteenth s. Early in its development, this new type of jazz was rejected and disdained by many older, more established jazz musicians, whom the beboppers, in response, called ', 1945 (now available on Uptown Records). 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". Although this may have been hyperbole, the Savoy sessions produced an astounding collection of recordings — in spite of Dizzy Gillespie having to deputize on piano for some of the tracks. Among the tracks recorded during this session are "Koko" (based on the chords of "Cherokee"), "Now's the Time" (a Twelve Bar Blues incorporating a Riff later used in the late 1949 R&B dance hit "The Hucklebuck" ), "Billie's Bounce", and "Thriving on a Riff." Shortly afterwards, a trip to Los Angeles by the Parker/Gillespie band to fulfill an engagement at Billy Berg's club was less than successful. Most of the band soon decided to return to New York. Parker, though, stayed in California, where his self-destructive lifestyle was to catch up with him. Addiction As a teenager, he had developed a Morphine addiction while in a hospital after an automobile accident, and subsequently became addicted to Heroin , which was to haunt him throughout his life and to ultimately contribute to his death. Parker's habit was to cause him to miss gigs and to be fired for being high. To continue his "buzz" he frequently resorted to busking on the streets for drug money. Parker's example was typical of the strong connection between narcotics and jazz at the time. Although he produced many brilliant recordings during this period, Parker's behavior became increasingly erratic. Heroin was difficult to obtain after his dealer was arrested, and Parker began to drink heavily to compensate for this. A recording for the Dial 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, ''Bird on Dial Volume 1'' Parker missed most of the first two bars of his first chorus on the track, "Max is 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", Ross Russell was enlisted to hold Parker in place in front of the microphone. On the final track recorded that evening, Parker begins a solo with a solid first eight bars. On his second eight bars, however, Parker begins to struggle, and a desperate Howard McGhee, playing trumpet on the session, shouts, "Blow!" at Parker. McGhee's bellow is audible on the recording. Some, including Charles Mingus, consider this version of "Lover Man" to be among his greater recordings despite its flaws. Nevertheless, Bird hated the recording and never forgave his producer Ross Russell for releasing the sub-par record (and re-recorded the tune in 1953 for Verve , this time in stellar form, but perhaps lacking some of the passionate emotion in the earlier, problematic attempt). The night of the "Lover Man" session, Parker was drinking in his hotel room. He went down to the hotel lobby stark naked and asked to use the phone, several times. He was refused on each attempt and the hotel manager eventually locked him in his room. At some point in 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 Hospital, 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 recorded dozens of sides for the Savoy and Dial labels that remain some of the high points of his recorded output. Many of these were with his so-called "classic quintet" that included trumpeter Miles Davis and drummer Max Roach . The highlights of these sessions include a series of slower-tempo performances of American popular songs including "Embraceable You" and "Bird of Paradise" (based on "All the Things You Are"). 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. Such pieces include " Anthropology ", " Confirmation ", and " Yardbird Suite ", which have been performed by numerous other musicians. Like his solos, his compositions are characterised by long, complex melodic lines and a minimum of repetition - generally speaking, an eight-bar segment will not contain any repeated motifs or sequences. Charlie Parker With Strings On in their dramatic sweep, and the rhythm section provides a delicate swing under Bird's improvisation, blending perfectly with the orchestra. Parker's improvisations are, relative 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. He is always tasteful and brimming with eloquent expression. 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. While 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. Stardom By 1950 , much of the jazz world was under Parker's sway. His solos were transcribed and copied; legions of saxophonists imitated his playing note-for-note (in response to these pretenders, Parker's erstwhile bandmate Charles Mingus titled a song "Gunslinging Bird" (meaning "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 . Unfortunately, the concert clashed with a televised heavyweight boxing match between Rocky Marciano and Jersey Joe Walcott and as a result was poorly attended. Thankfully, for the sake of posterity, Mingus recorded the concert, and the album '' Jazz At Massey Hall '' is often cited as one of the finest recordings of a live jazz performance. One of Parker's longstanding desires was to perform with a String Section as he was a keen student of Classical Music . Contemporaries reported that he was most interested in the music and formal innovations of Igor Stravinsky , and longed to engage in a project akin to what became known as "Third Stream Music"; a new kind of music, incorporating both jazz and Euro-classical elements as opposed to merely incorporating a string section into performance of jazz standards. When he did record and perform with strings, some fans thought it was a " Sell Out " and a pandering to popular tastes. 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. In an interview, he considered it to be his best recording to date. Parker was known for often showing up to performances without an instrument and borrowing someone else's at the last moment. At more than one venue he played on a plastic Grafton Saxophone ; later, saxophonist Ornette Coleman used this brand of plastic sax in his early career. On one particular occasion before a concert in Toronto, Canada , he had sold his saxophone to buy drugs, and at the last minute, he, Dizzy Gillespie and other members of Charlie's entourage went running around Toronto trying to find a saxophone. After scouring all the downtown pawnshops open at the time, they were only able to find a Grafton, which Parker proceeded to use at the concert that night. This concert is documented on the album "The Quintet, Live At Massey Hall" . The album is considered one of the greatest live recordings in Jazz history. Death Parker died while watching Tommy Dorsey on television in the suite at the Stanhope Hotel belonging to his friend and patroness Nica De Koenigswarter . Though the official cause of death was (lobar) Pneumonia and a Bleeding Ulcer , his death was hastened by his drug and Alcohol Abuse . 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 stepdaughter, Kim Parker , who is also a musician, and a son, Baird Parker; their later lives are chronicled in Chan Parker's autobiography, "My Life in E Flat." In 1984, Parker was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement . The mythic Charlie "Bird" Parker During his lifetime, tribute was paid to Parker when a new nightclub in New York was named Birdland in his honor in 1949. Three years later, George Shearing wrote " Lullaby Of Birdland ," which was named for both Parker and the nightclub. The legend "Bird Lives" first appeared as Graffiti in New York City subways a few hours after Parker's passing. For this, the poet Ted Joans is usually credited. Charlie Parker has been an inspiration to countless jazz musicians, non-jazz musicians (such as the classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Rolling Stones' drummer Charlie Watts), painters, poets, and writers throughout the world. MEMORIALS AND TRIBUTES
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CHARLIE PARKER IN POPULAR CULTURE Charlie Parker has become an icon of popular culture. His name is Dropped by Rock Music ians and he has appeared in Comics . Music
Here are some of Charlie Parker's most prominent tunes
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SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY See also Charlie Parker Discography Parker made extensive recordings for three labels — Savoy and Dial best document his early work, while Verve is representative of his later career:
Many live recordings, of varying quality, are also available. A small selection of the many are listed below:
Special mention should be made of the legendary Dean Benedetti recordings, a huge trove of live material recorded by an obsessive fan. Long thought lost or merely mythical, these eventually resurfaced and were released as a set by Mosaic Records . BIBLIOGRAPHY
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