Charlie Parker

Today we’re listening to Charlie Parker, an American saxophonist from Kansas City. He was born in 1920 and picked up an alto sax at age 11, beginning a devotion to the instrument that soon involved “woodshedding for 11 to 15 hours a day.”¹ In his short time on earth – he passed away at age 34 in 1955 – he wrote songs and laid down recordings that inspired musicians across genres and generations. In the ‘40s in New York, he varied his performance tempo in the extreme, sprinkled blue notes across solos, and hit off-key chords across progressions, forming what came to be known as bebop. He also took a lot from blues, an ingredient on display in a Parker compilation released last year called Plays the Blues. The LP includes originals like “Now’s the Time” and “Billie’s Bounce” and features Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. But first we’re playing The Quintet: Jazz at Massey Hall from 1953, a concert recording of Parker with Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, and Max Roach. As Scott Yanow wrote for Blue Note, “Jazz would sound a great deal different if Charlie Parker had not existed.”

Jazz at Massey Hall - The Quintet (47m, Gillespie and Parker emcee between tracks; vocal refrain on track 2)
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Plays the Blues - Charlie Parker (45m, no vocals)
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Have a nice Thursday.

1. New York Times