Editing Charlie Parker (section)

==Early life==
Charles Parker Jr. was born in [[Kansas City, Kansas]], to Charles Parker Sr. and Adelaide "Addie" Bailey, who was of mixed [[Choctaw]] and African-American background. He was raised in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], near Westport Road.{{sfn|Haddix|2013}} His father, a [[Pullman Company|Pullman]] waiter and chef on the railways, was often required to travel for work, but provided some musical influence because he was a pianist, dancer, and singer on the [[Theatre Owners Booking Association]] circuit. Parker's mother worked nights at the local [[Western Union]] office during the 1920s.{{sfn|Giddins|2013|pp=21–23}}

Parker first went to a Catholic school and sang in its choir, but his parents separated in 1930 due to his father's alcoholism and the effects of the [[Great Depression]]. By the time he was in high school, Parker, his older half-brother John, and his mother Addie were living near 15th Street and Olive Street and she was working as a cleaner in order to afford housing.{{Sfn|Priestley|1984|pp=11–12}}{{sfn|Haddix|2013}} 

Parker began playing the saxophone at age 11, and at age 14 he joined the [[Lincoln College Preparatory Academy|Lincoln High School]]{{sfn|Woideck|1998|p=4}} band where he studied under bandmaster Alonzo Lewis. His mother purchased a new alto saxophone around the same time. Parker's biggest influence in his early teens was a young [[trombone]] player named Robert Simpson, who taught him the basics of improvisation.{{sfn|Woideck|1998|p=8}}

Parker withdrew from high school in December 1935, joined the local musicians' union, and decided to pursue his musical career full-time.{{sfn|Haddix|2013|p=19}}