Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker
Gary Giddins
Abstract
Within days of Charlie “Bird” Parker’s death at the age of thirty-four, a scrawled legend began appearing on walls around New York City: Bird Lives. Gone was one of the most outstanding jazz musicians of any era, the troubled genius who brought modernism to jazz and became a defining cultural force for musicians, writers, and artists of every stripe. Arguably the most significant musician in the country at the time of his death, Parker set the standard many musicians strove to reach—though he never enjoyed the same popular success that greeted many of his imitators. Today, the power of Parker’ ... More
Within days of Charlie “Bird” Parker’s death at the age of thirty-four, a scrawled legend began appearing on walls around New York City: Bird Lives. Gone was one of the most outstanding jazz musicians of any era, the troubled genius who brought modernism to jazz and became a defining cultural force for musicians, writers, and artists of every stripe. Arguably the most significant musician in the country at the time of his death, Parker set the standard many musicians strove to reach—though he never enjoyed the same popular success that greeted many of his imitators. Today, the power of Parker’s inventions resonates undiminished; and his influence continues to expand. This book presents account of the life and legend of Charlie Parker. This book overturns many of the myths that have grown up around Parker. It cuts a fascinating portrait of the period, from Parker’s apprentice days in the 1930s in his hometown of Kansas City to the often difficult years playing clubs in New York and Los Angeles, and reveals how Parker came to embody not only musical innovation and brilliance but the rage and exhilaration of an entire generation.
Keywords:
Charlie Parker,
Bird Lives,
jazz,
Kansas City,
New York,
jazz musicians,
legend
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2013 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780816690411 |
| Published to Minnesota Scholarship Online: August 2015 |
DOI:10.5749/minnesota/9780816690411.001.0001 |
