Charlie “Bird” Parker was one of the wonders of 20th-century music. During his troubled 34 years on earth, he changed the course of jazz history. Yet nothing is simple about the life of this drug-ravaged, volatile genius; even the inspiration for the saxophone maestro’s famous nickname is shrouded in folklore.
Charles Christopher Parker Jr was born on 29 August 1920 in Freeman Avenue, Kansas City. Parker’s upbringing was difficult. His father Charles was a drunken gambler – and a pimp, according to Parker’s third wife – who left the family home when Parker was nine and was subsequently stabbed to death in a fight when his son was still a teenager. Parker did, at least, inherit a love of music and from the age of 12, was hanging out in the alleyways behind the nightclubs lining Kansas’s 12th Street, trying to hear a jam session or catch a glimpse of his saxophone hero Lester Young.
Parker’s life has been thoroughly mythologised, including the time in 1936 when he got his chance to sit in on one of the famous jam sessions with Count Basie’s band at the Reno Club. According to legend, the 16-year-old’s error-ridden solo so infuriated Jo Jones that the drummer hurled a cymbal at Parker.
Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique, and advanced harmonies. Parker was an extremely fast virtuoso and introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas into jazz, including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. Primarily a player of the alto saxophone, Parker's tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber. He was known for the very clear, sweet and articulate notes he could produce from the saxophone.
reminders:
- 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
- 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes struggle sessions over upbears
- 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
- 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can go here nerd
Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
- 💙Comprehensive list of resources for those in need of an abortion -- reddit link
- 💙Resources for Palestine
Theory:
New Megathread Nerds!!! :jazz-passion: :jazz-ecstacy:
@aaaaaaadjsf @Abraxiel @AnarchaPrincess @Antilope @Alaskaball @BrookeBaybee @bbnh69420 @buh @CARCOSA @cawsby @CDommunist @Cheesewizzard @Cherufe @ClathrateG @ClimateChangeAnxiety @clover @comi @Commander_Data @COMMENT @ComradeCmdrPiggy @ComradeEchidna @context @congressbaseballfan @crime @Cromalin @CyborgMarx @DinosaurThussy @Diogenes_Barrel @Dirt_Owl @Donut @drinkinglakewater @Eco @ella @ElGosso @el_principito @EmmaGoldman @FidelCashflow @flowernet @forcequit @Frogmanfromlake @GalaxyBrain @ghosts @Goadstool @GoroAkechi @Grownbravy @GVAGUY3 @HarryLime @hexaflexagonbear @HoChiMaxh @Hohsia @Ideology @iwillavengeyoufather @JamesConeZone @Kanna @Kaputnik @Koa_lala @kristina @KiraNerys @LeninWeave @LesbianLiberty @LoudMuffin @marxisthayaca
@MaxOS @MaybeNickCage @MelaniaTrump @Mindfury @Nakoichi @Ness @PM_ME_YOUR_FOUCAULTS @PorkrollPosadist @PurrLure @Ram_The_Manparts @Redcuban1959 @REallyN @RNAi @RoseColoredVoid @Sandinband @solaranus @SorosFootSoldier @Sickos @silent_water @Sphere @Spike @spring_rabbit @take_five_seconds @TankieTanuki @Tervell
@TheSpectreOfGay @ThisMachinePostsHog @Trouble @ultraviolet @UlyssesT @Venustum @viva_la_juche @WIIHAPPYFEW @Wmill @wtypstanaccount04 @Yanqui_UXO @ZoiftRIP king. Man lived a troubled life but made a huge impact while he lived it.
Is “Kung Fu Fighting” a good song?
Not Really
Has “Kung Fu Fighting” aged well?
Not Really
Is “Kung Fu Fighting” one of the greatest songs of all time?
Yes, AbsolutelyHello from the road! I currently in [redacted] on tour, and we got to have a stop in Langley recently and I met my NSA handler. They were kind of boring and not at all interesting. They said I should touch grass but I countered with "but you're getting paid to watch me on the internet." I win ha ha nerds.
On a serious note we're cutting the tour short by a day for reasons beyond our control, but its totally cool cause we'll be close to home then and I get to go see the corgi! Tour itself has been great, wish we had more time to just do stuff, but it is what it is.
For all the other musicians reading this, we have subsided off band $ so ill call this tour a win.
this site is so nice i forget that most people are assholes on the rest of the internet
me after painstakingly cutting out subjects in each individual frame of a video clip to make a transparent gif emoji and like 5 people use it :walter-breakdown:
tbf i made that one too and thats like top 20 on the site so :shrug-outta-hecks:
translation:
Britain is very likely to give a shilling (five pence) for Big Ben to ring once because of a floppy haired psychopath and removing itself from the european union
Thank you for that. I didn't realize UK slang was so impossible to understand sometimes.
It must be so hard to be an anthropologist and have to listen to your colleagues say "early homo" and not even crack a smile
My desire to become a more social person with more friends is heavily counterbalanced by how tedious and tiring I find most other people and how hard it is for them to stand up to the appeal of staying in and playing games. Here's hoping I become a more sociable person with age.
i have to go to a halloween party and I really don't want to because people do be tedious
Added a whole jalapeno from my garden to my breakfast this morning and it was tasty but completely devoid of heat :deeper-sadness: I hope they aren't all that way and I also hope that my habaneros have not suffered the same fate
