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
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Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
- 💙Comprehensive list of resources for those in need of an abortion -- reddit link
- 💙Resources for Palestine
Theory:
Am I crazy for thinking there is a massive paternalism/conservatism that's attached to a lot of ADHD prescriptions/refills? And pharmaceutical use more generally?
Like, I can't request a refill from my pharmacy until the second last day of my current stock ending. We're not allowed to have more than 1 month refills at a time. I have to jump through hoops and beg for re-approval every time I'm out of refills in this crumbling medical system.
Tell me more about how I need all these controls and protections while I was never diagnosed despite clearly presenting throughout my my time at school (and struggling massively), how it took three years and bypassing several conservative doctors to finally get a diagnosis in my adulthood, how it took another three years of trial and error with medication until I found one that didn't cause suicidality or massive mood imbalance, how this current medication costs a quarter of my paycheck every refill, and how every time I run out of refills I once again feel like I might have this drug that is clearly working for me get rugpulled by the next skeptical doctor or nurse practicioner that sees me. I feel so protected!
Frankly it has always been incredible to me that the system is so flimsy to begin with.
My childhood PCP - when I went back to him after I turned 18 and realized my parents decision to not medicate me was the reason I was having trouble in college - would just write 6 months worth of prescriptions at once, scribble 'Do not fill until X/X/XX' on each one so I couldn't take them to the pharmacy and get them filled until it was that specific prescription's month. Nothing really could've prevented me from scanning one of the prescriptions at home, doing a 5 minute photoshop job to change the date and taking that to a pharmacist but I obviously never did.
My current PCP just waits for me to request a refill via the online portal and sends a prescription virtually to the pharmacy - it has been a year and I haven't seen him once. But of course, he can just go no contact via the patient portal out of the blue and its up to me to actually find the time to schedule an appointment with him so I can get him to send another prescription. :no-mouth-must-scream:
Honestly feel like my dickhead PCP is going to try something like that today and I'm not gonna have it. Definitely going to make a point of bitching at him & his staff for just leaving 3 refill requests (made on 8/1, 8/15 and 8/22) on read and not bothering to call or send a message saying "hey we can't prescribe this til you come in again" or anything else along those lines.
Took me a while to realize that PCP meant Primary Care Provider, and that you weren't in fact given PCP as a child. We need more streetnames for drugs, rather than acronyms.