Biography of Charlie Parker

If any single person might be deemed the father of "modern" jazz, Charlie Parker could legitimately qualify. No saxophonist has been more influential, and Parker's legacy towers over jazz and modern music to this day. As a player, his skills were unsurpassed, especially his ability to constantly invent melodies in his solos, and he was also a harmonic genius. He was able to modulate from any key to another key, play in any register, and provide endless surprises whether doing originals, shopworn show tunes, ballads, or blues. At times, Parker and his cohort Dizzy Gillespie would even turn practice compositions upside down and play them that way for relief. Sadly, a lifelong addiction to drugs, plus other personality problems, not only prevented him from living beyond 34 but certainly limited the amount of time he was effective on the bandstand. Despite all this, Parker's talent and greatness emerged on scores of records and through accounts from musicians and fans who heard him. Parker grew up in Kansas City and started on alto as a child. He played baritone in a school band but dropped out at 15, and shortly afterward he began his tragic involvement with drugs. His early influences were local players Buster Smith and Lester Young, and Parker got his first significant tenure in Jay McShann and Harlan Leonard's bands in the late 30s. He moved to New York in 1939 and spent three months washing dishes at a club where Art Tatum worked. During a job in Harlem, Parker began making his mark on the jazz scene, improvising on the upper intervals of the chords in the song "Cherokee" rather than the lower ones, creating a new harmonic framework. He later recorded with McShann in 1941, following his return to Kansas City for his father's funeral. After leaving McShann and returning to New York, he began appearing at the historic jam sessions at Minton's, while also playing in the bands of Noble Sissle, Earl Hines, Cootie Williams, Andy Kirk, and Billy Eckstine. In 1944 he made some combo dates with Tiny Grimes, then worked a year later in a quintet with Dizzy Gillespie. He changed locales in late 1945, going to Los Angeles and playing with a band that included Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Al Haig, and others. But following a record session for Dial, Parker had a mental breakdown and was confined for six months in Camarillo State Hospital. He made some more recordings for Dial in 1947, then returned to New York, heading various groups and continuing to make incredible solo performances when he could physically appear at the date. During the 50s, Parker played Afro-latin jazz with Machito and Gillespie, made many remarkable dates for Verve, participated in a legendary concert in Canada at Massey Hall with several other notables, and also made a controversial recording with a string orchestra. During the 40s and 50s he also wrote a number of seminal tunes, among them "Ornithology," "Scrapple from the Apple," "Parker's Mood," and "Yardbird Suite." Continued abuse of drugs and alcohol, plus other drug-induced escapades, eventually resulted in his death. Still, some 37 years later, Charlie Parker's music remains immense. ~ Ron Wynn