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:
Hello 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.