Editing Charlie Parker

{{short description|American jazz musician (1920–1955)}}
{{About|the American jazz musician|other people with the same name|Charlie Parker (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name             = Charlie Parker
| image            = Portrait of Charlie Parker in 1947.jpg
| caption          = Parker at the Three Deuces jazz club, New York, 1947
| birth_name       = Charles Parker Jr.
| alias            = Bird, Yardbird
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1920|8|29}}
| birth_place      = [[Kansas City, Kansas]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1955|3|12|1920|8|29}}
| death_place      = [[New York City]], U.S.
| instrument       = [[Alto saxophone|Alto]] and [[tenor saxophone]] 
| genre            = {{flatlist| 
* [[Jazz]]
* [[bebop]]}}
| occupation       = {{flatlist|
* Musician
* composer}}
| years_active     = 1937–1955
| label            = {{flatlist|
* [[Savoy Records|Savoy]]
* [[Dial Records (1946)|Dial]]
* [[Verve Records|Verve]]
* [[Mercury Records|Mercury]]
* [[Esquire Records (UK)|Esquire]]
* [[Vogue Records|Vogue]]
* [[Columbia Graphophone Company|EMI Columbia]]
}}
| website          = {{URL|charlieparkermusic.com}}
}}

'''Charles Parker Jr.''' (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "'''Bird'''" or "'''Yardbird'''", was an American [[jazz]] [[Saxophone|saxophonist]], bandleader, and composer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biography.com/people/charlie-parker-9433413 |title=Charlie Parker Biography – Facts, Birthday, Life Story |publisher=Biography.com |access-date=February 17, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 24, 2007 |title=Charlie Parker, Uptown and Down |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/24/arts/music/24park.html |work=[[The NY Times]]}}</ref> Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of [[bebop]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/profiles/charlie_parker.shtml |title=100 Jazz Profiles: Charlie Parker |website=[[BBC Radio 3]] |access-date=February 10, 2023}}</ref> a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, [[Virtuoso|virtuosic]] technique, and advanced harmonies. He was a virtuoso and introduced revolutionary rhythmic and harmonic ideas into jazz, including rapid [[Passing chord|passing chords]], new variants of [[Altered chord|altered chords]], and [[Chord substitution|chord substitutions]]. Parker was primarily a player of the [[alto saxophone]].

Parker was an icon for the [[hipster (1940s subculture)|hipster]] subculture and later the [[Beat Generation]], personifying the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual rather than just an entertainer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woideck |first=Carl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E4H0BgAAQBAJ |title=Charlie Parker |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 |isbn=9780190268787}}</ref>

==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}}

== Career ==

=== 1936–1938: Jam sessions and woodshedding ===
Upon leaving high school, Parker began to play with local bands in jazz clubs around Kansas City and often ambitiously took part in [[Jam session|jam sessions]] with more experienced musicians. In early 1936, at one such jam session with the [[Count Basie Orchestra]], he lost track of the chord changes while improvising. This prompted [[Jo Jones]] to contemptuously remove a cymbal from his drum kit and throw it at his feet as a signal to leave the stage.{{Sfn|Priestley|1984|pp=|p=17}}{{sfn|Haddix|2013|p=21}}

[[File:Bird's sax NMAAHC-2019.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A King 'Super 20' alto saxophone, owned and used by Charlie Parker, now at the [[Smithsonian Institution]]]]
Rather than becoming discouraged, Parker vowed to practice harder. He mastered improvisation and, according to his comments in an interview with [[Paul Desmond]], spent the next three to four years practicing up to 15 hours a day.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 17, 2014 |title=Paul Desmond Interviews Charlie Parker (1954) |url=https://bobreynoldsmusic.com/paul-desmond-charlie-parker/ |access-date=December 11, 2019 |website=Bob Reynolds}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Paul Desmond interviews Charlie Parker |url=http://www.puredesmond.ca/pdbird.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706194036/http://www.puredesmond.ca/pdbird.htm |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |website=Puredesmond.ca}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Fordham |first=John |date=June 16, 2011 |title=A teenage Charlie Parker has a cymbal thrown at him |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/17/charlie-parker-cymbal-thrown |website=The Guardian}}</ref> Parker proposed to Rebecca Ruffin, his girlfriend four years his senior, and the two were married on July 25, 1936.<ref> Dixon, Anita. "Charlie Parker, 'I was his first, he was my first, it was all special", ''Pitch Weekly'' (KCMO), April 10, 1996.</ref> They had two children together before divorcing in 1939, in large part due to his growing drug addiction.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-31 |title=Charlie Parker - myth and mayhem - National Jazz Archive |url=https://nationaljazzarchive.org.uk/posts/articles/2020/08/charlie-parker---myth-and-mayhem |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=nationaljazzarchive.org.uk |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-09-02 |title=The short, troubled life of saxophone genius Charlie 'Bird' Parker |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/charlie-bird-parker-death-jazz-musician-saxophonist-miles-davis-a9689511.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

In late 1936, Parker and a Kansas City band traveled to the [[Ozarks]] for the opening of Musser's Resort south of [[Eldon, Missouri]]. Along the way, the caravan of musicians had a car accident and Parker broke three ribs and fractured his spine.{{sfn|Haddix|2013|p=24}} Despite his near-death experience on the way to the Ozarks in 1936, Parker returned to the area in the summer of 1937, where he spent a great deal of time [[woodshedding]] and developing his sound.{{sfn|Haddix|2013}}{{sfn|Crouch|2013}} Working with two musicians on chordal instruments, a pianist and guitarist respectively, he was able to practice improvising over chord changes and began to develop the ability to solo fluently across chords and scales.{{Sfn|Priestley|1984|pp=|p=16}}

In 1938, Parker joined pianist [[Jay McShann]]'s [[territory band]].{{sfn|Woideck|1998|p=18}} His first gig with the band was during the summer or early fall at the Continental Club in Kansas City, where Parker worked as a substitute alto saxophonist for Edward "Popeye" Hale.{{sfn|Haddix|2013|pp=34–35}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 30, 1938 |title=Jay McShann band at Continental Club |work=[[Kansas City Journal-Post]] |pages=7}}</ref> In December, he joined [[Harlan Leonard]]'s Rockets; the band played at dances including a [[Christmas]] dance for which Parker was listed in a local newspaper as one of the Rockets' personnel.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 23, 1938 |title=Harlan Leonard's band to give Dance Xmas Night |work=[[Kansas City Call]] |pages=9}}</ref>

=== 1939–1944: Development of bebop ===
In 1939, Parker moved to New York City to pursue his musical career but worked part-time jobs to make a living. Among the more musically significant of these jobs was as a dishwasher for nine dollars a week at Jimmie's Chicken Shack, where pianist [[Art Tatum]] performed.<ref>See ''[[Jazz (TV series)|Jazz]]'', Episode 7: "Dedicated to Chaos: 1940–1945".</ref> Struggling with poverty, Parker went to the home of fellow alto saxophone player, [[Buster Smith]], to ask for help. Smith allowed Parker to live in his apartment for six months and gave him gigs in his band. Parker's playing at these gigs impressed several New York musicians including pianist and bandleader [[Earl Hines]].<ref name=":0" />

While living in New York, Parker achieved his musical breakthrough, developing a new improvisational vocabulary which later came to be known as "[[bebop]]". Playing "[[Cherokee (Ray Noble song)|Cherokee]]" in a practice session with guitarist William "Biddy" Fleet, he realized that the 12 semitones of the [[chromatic scale]] can lead melodically to any key, breaking some of the confines of simpler jazz soloing. Parker recalled: "I'd been getting bored with the stereotyped changes that were being used all the time at the time, and I kept thinking there's bound to be something else. I could hear it sometimes but I couldn't play it ... Well, that night I was working over 'Cherokee' and, as I did, I found that by using the higher intervals of a chord as a melody line and backing them with appropriately related changes, I could play the thing I'd been hearing. I came alive."{{sfn|Giddins|1998|p=264}}
[[File:(52nd Street, New York, N.Y., ca. 1948) (LOC) (4976463491) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Sign advertising the names of Parker and [[Margie Hyams]] at the Three Deuces]]
In 1940, he returned to Kansas City to perform with Jay McShann and to attend the funeral of his father, Charles Sr. The younger Parker then spent the summer in McShann's band playing at [[Fairyland Park]] for all-white audiences; trumpet player [[Bernard Anderson (trumpeter)|Bernard Anderson]] introduced him to [[Dizzy Gillespie]].{{sfn|Haddix|2013}}{{sfn|Crouch|2013}} The band also toured nightclubs and other venues of the southwest, as well as [[Chicago]] and [[New York City]],<ref>{{cite web |title=pbs.org |url=https://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_parker_charlie.htm |access-date=March 10, 2011 |publisher=pbs.org}}</ref><ref>[http://amb.cult.bg/music/jazz/mp3/notes/CHARLI.htm amb.cult.bg] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221093817/http://amb.cult.bg/music/jazz/mp3/notes/CHARLI.htm|date=December 21, 2007}}</ref> and Parker made his professional recording debut with McShann's band that year.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Charlie Parker Discography |url=https://www.jazzdisco.org/charlie-parker/discography/ |access-date=March 13, 2024 |website=www.jazzdisco.org}}</ref> When in New York, to experiment with his new musical ideas that went beyond the bounds of McShann's group, Parker joined a group of young musicians who played in after-hours clubs in [[Harlem]] venues including [[Clark Monroe's Uptown House]].  Fellow musicians at the venues included developing beboppers Gillespie, pianist [[Thelonious Monk]], guitarist [[Charlie Christian]], and drummer [[Kenny Clarke]]. A pianist and one of the pioneers of bebop, [[Mary Lou Williams]], offered a further explanation that the after-hours sessions were an opportunity "to challenge the practice of [[Lower Manhattan|downtown]] musicians coming uptown and 'stealing' the music."<ref>{{cite book |last=Kelley |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Kelley |title=Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original |publisher=The Free Press |year=2009 |pages=118}}</ref> 

Parker left McShann's band in 1942 and played for one year with Hines, whose band also included Gillespie. However, this band's performances and therefore Parker's role in them are virtually undocumented due to [[1942–1944 musicians' strike|the strike of 1942–1944]] by the [[American Federation of Musicians]], during which time few professional recordings were made. In fact, much of bebop's critical early development was not captured for posterity due to the ban and the new genre gained limited radio exposure as a result.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Bebop and the Recording Industry: The 1942 AFM Recording Ban Reconsidered |journal=Journal of the American Musicological Society |date=Spring 1988 |volume=41 |first=Scott |last=DeVeaux |issue=1 |pages=126–165 |doi=10.2307/831753 |jstor=831753 }}</ref><ref>James Lincoln Collier, ''The Making of Jazz'', New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1978, p. 355.</ref> The few recordings in which Parker participated in 1943 took place in Chicago and included a jam session recording with Gillespie and bassist [[Oscar Pettiford]], another session with [[Billy Eckstine]] playing trumpet, some informally recorded practice sessions, and a duo with pianist [[Hazel Scott]].<ref name=":1" /> Parker's time with Hines' band and his traveling between New York and Chicago enabled him to model his style on, according to his own words, a "combination of the Midwestern beat and the fast New York tempos." Parker began writing compositions thanks to his growing friendship with Gillespie, who began notating Parker's solos as melodies. Among these early Parker compositions were "Koko", "[[Anthropology (composition)|Anthropology]]", and "[[Confirmation (composition)|Confirmation]]".{{Sfn|Priestley|1984|pp=26–27|p=}} 

Parker left Hines' band and formed a small group with Gillespie, pianist [[Al Haig]], bassist [[Curley Russell]], and drummer [[Stan Levey]]. The group stood out from its contemporaries, as it was racially integrated and it lacked a guitarist for rhythmic support. This new format enabled soloists to be freed from harmonic and rhythmic restrictions, and in late 1944 the group secured a gig at the Three Deuces club in New York. The group's name recognition spread along [[52nd Street (Manhattan)|52nd Street]] and its style was dubbed "bebop" for the first time. Musicians at other clubs came to hear bebop and reacted negatively to it because, according to bassist [[Charles Mingus]], they saw it as a threat to their existing style of jazz.{{Sfn|Priestley|1984|pp=27–28|p=}}[[File:Charlie Parker, Tommy Potter, Miles Davis, Duke Jordan, Max Roach (Gottlieb 06851).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Parker with (from left to right) [[Tommy Potter]], [[Max Roach]], [[Miles Davis]], and [[Duke Jordan]], at the Three Deuces, New York, circa 1945]]

=== 1945–1953: Solo career ===
It was not until 1945, after the AFM's recording ban was lifted, that Parker's collaborations with [[Dizzy Gillespie]], [[Max Roach]] and others had a substantial effect on the jazz world. One of their first small-group performances together was rediscovered in 2004 and released in 2005: a concert in New York's [[The Town Hall (New York City)|Town Hall]] on June 22, 1945. Bebop soon gained wider appeal among musicians and fans.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945 |first=Ira |last=Gitler |author-link=Ira Gitler |others=[[Charlie Parker]]; [[Dizzy Gillespie]] |date=2005 |publisher=Uptown |id=UPCD 27.51 |location=Whitehall, MI}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945 - Dizz... {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/town-hall-new-york-city-june-22-1945-mw0000649331 |access-date=2024-08-19 |language=en}}</ref>

On November 26, 1945, Parker led a record date for [[Savoy Records]], marketed as the "greatest Jazz session ever". Recording as Charlie Parker's Reboppers, Parker enlisted sidemen Gillespie and [[Miles Davis]] on trumpet, [[Curley Russell]] on bass and [[Max Roach]] on drums. The tracks recorded during this session include "[[Ko-Ko]]", "[[Billie's Bounce]]", and "[[Now's the Time (composition)|Now's the Time]]".<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=The Charlie Parker Story |others=[[Charlie Parker]] |last=Mehegan |first=John |year=1956 |type=liner notes |publisher=[[Savoy Records]] |id=MG 12079}}</ref>

In December 1945, the Parker band traveled to an unsuccessful engagement at [[Billy Berg's]] club in [[Los Angeles]]. Most of the group returned to New York, but Parker remained in California, cashing in his return ticket to buy heroin. However, after Parker dedicated one of his compositions to local drug dealer "[[Moose the Mooche]]" at a studio session in the spring, the dealer was arrested, and without access to heroin, Parker turned to [[alcoholism|alcohol addiction]]. He suffered a physical and mental breakdown after a studio session in July 1946 for [[Dial Records (1946)|Dial Records]], and was briefly jailed after setting the bed sheets of his Los Angeles hotel room on fire and then running naked through the lobby while intoxicated, after which he was committed to the [[Camarillo State Mental Hospital]] for six months.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Michael |editor-last=Gray |title=The Dial Recordings of Charlie Parker: A Discography |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |publication-place=Greenwood, Connecticut, United States |first=Edward M. |last=Komara |via=[[Google Books]] |isbn=9780313291685 |series=Discographies series |volume=76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m8NNXtuFeukC |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m8NNXtuFeukC&pg=PA27 |page=27 |chapter=Historical Narrative |year=1998 |oclc=528877878 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2eUEAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 |publication-place=Baltimore, Maryland, United States |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |via=[[Google Books]] |title=Schizophrenia: A Brother Finds Answers in Biological Science |chapter=9. Two State Hospitals (1959—1960) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2eUEAQAAQBAJ |isbn=9781421410913 |first=Ronald |last=Chase |date=October 7, 2013 |oclc=827119755 |page=76 }}</ref>{{Sfn|Priestley|1984|pp=30–31|p=}}

When Parker received his discharge from the hospital, he was healthy and free from his drug habit. Before leaving California, he recorded "[[Relaxin' at Camarillo]]," in reference to his stay in the mental hospital, at one of two successful recording sessions. The first of these sessions took place with a septet while the second paired Parker with pianist [[Erroll Garner]]'s trio and vocalist [[Earl Coleman (singer)|Earl Coleman]]. Upon returning to New York in 1947, however, Parker resumed his heroin usage.{{Sfn|Priestley|1984|pp=31–33|p=}} He recorded dozens of sides for the Savoy and [[Dial Records (1946)|Dial]] labels, which remain some of the high points of his recorded output. Many of these were with his new quintet, including Davis and Roach.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Spirit of Creativity: Basic Mechanisms of Creative Achievements |last=Guntern |first=Gottlieb |publisher=University Press of America |year=2010 |isbn=9780761850519 |location=Lanham, MD |page=245 |quote=In the late 1940s, Charlie Parker's classic quintet—including trumpeter Miles Davis, drummer Max Roach, bass player Tommy Potter, and pianist Bud Powell—produced a series of masterpieces that reached the top of the rating scales.}}</ref> Parker and Davis disagreed on who should be the quintet's pianist, with Parker originally hiring [[Bud Powell]] for a May 1947 recording session but later favoring Gillespie's arranger, [[John Lewis (pianist)|John Lewis]]; Davis preferred [[Duke Jordan]]. Ultimately the quintet used both pianists as Parker wanted to balance leadership of the group with mentoring younger musicians such as Davis.{{Sfn|Priestley|1984|pp=33–34|p=}}

Following the establishment of a regular quintet, Parker signed for [[Mercury Records]] with [[Jazz at the Philharmonic]] promoter [[Norman Granz]] as his producer. The partnership enabled Parker to work with musicians from other genres, such as [[Latin jazz]] percussionist and bandleader [[Machito]], and to appear in concerts at [[Carnegie Hall]] as part of the Jazz at the Philharmonic series.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Havers |first=Richard |date=2023-08-29 |title=A Bird's Life: How Charlie Parker Changed The Course Of Jazz History |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/charlie-parker-jazz-history/ |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=uDiscover Music |language=en-US}}</ref> Further, Granz was able to fulfil a longstanding desire of Parker's to perform with a [[string section]]. He was a keen student of classical music, and contemporaries reported he was most interested in the music and formal innovations of [[Igor Stravinsky]] and longed to engage in a project akin to what later became known as [[Third Stream]], a new kind of music, incorporating both jazz and classical elements as opposed to merely incorporating a string section into performance of jazz standards. On November 30, 1949, [[Norman Granz]] arranged for Parker to record an album of ballads with a mixed group of jazz and [[Orchestra|chamber orchestra]] musicians.{{sfn|Russell|1973|p=273}} Six master takes from this session became the album ''[[Charlie Parker with Strings]]'': "[[Just Friends (1931 song)|Just Friends]]", "[[Everything Happens to Me (song)|Everything Happens to Me]]", "[[April in Paris (song)|April in Paris]]", "[[Summertime (George Gershwin song)|Summertime]]", "[[I Didn't Know What Time It Was]]", and "[[If I Should Lose You]]".<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Charlie Parker (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Parker performing in 1954]]
In 1950, Parker and Gillespie recorded ''[[Bird and Diz]]'', an album that proved to be among the few times Parker worked with bebop pianist [[Thelonious Monk]]; the music was released in 1952.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bird and Diz – Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/bird-and-diz-mw0000188496 |website=AllMusic}}</ref> Meanwhile, Parker's regular group maintained popular success with a European tour in 1950<ref name=":2" /> and live gigs at New York nightclubs continued, leading to live albums ''[[One Night in Birdland]]'' (with [[Fats Navarro]] and Powell) and ''[[Summit Meeting at Birdland]]'' (with Gillespie and Powell). However, Parker became frustrated and disillusioned that, due to racial discrimination, he was reaching the limits of what he would be able to achieve in his career.{{Sfn|Priestley|1984|pp=39–44|p=}}

In 1953, Parker performed at [[Massey Hall]] in Toronto, joined by Gillespie, Mingus, Powell, and Roach.<ref name="Penguin9">{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |author-link=Richard Cook (journalist) |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |title-link=The Penguin Guide to Jazz |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |author-link2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |edition=9th |pages=1019–1021, 1119}}</ref> The concert happened at the same time as a televised heavyweight boxing match between [[Rocky Marciano]] and [[Jersey Joe Walcott]], so the musical event was poorly attended.{{sfn|Haddix|2013|pp=149–152}} Mingus recorded the concert, which resulted in the album ''[[Jazz at Massey Hall]]''.{{sfn|Haddix|2013|pp=149–152}} At this concert, Parker played a plastic [[Grafton saxophone]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Fordham |first=John |date=October 23, 2009 |title=50 Great Moments in Jazz: The Quintet – Jazz at Massey Hall |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2009/oct/23/quintet-jazz-at-massey-hall |work=The Guardian }}</ref>

Other live, and often [[Bootleg recording|bootleg]], recordings of Parker were made in the early 1950s, frequently with groups other than his usual quintet. Among the most notable of these recordings, particularly from the perspective of critics, were ''Charlie Parker in Sweden'' (recorded during his 1950 Sweden tour), ''[[Bird at St. Nick's]]'' (with Red Rodney), ''[[Inglewood Jam]]'' (recorded in 1952 with [[Chet Baker]]), ''[[Live at Rockland Palace]]'' (recorded live with his quintet and string accompaniment), ''Charlie Parker at Storyville'' (with [[Herb Pomeroy]] and [[Red Garland]]), and ''[[The Washington Concerts]]'' (recorded unrehearsed in 1953 with a big band).<ref name="Penguin9" />

=== 1954–1955: Illness and death ===
[[Image:Charlie Parker Lincoln Cemetery.jpg|thumb|Parker's grave at Lincoln Cemetery]]
Since 1950, Parker had been living in New York City with his [[Common-law marriage|common-law wife]], [[Chan Parker|Chan Berg]], the mother of his son, Baird (1952–2014),<ref>[http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/20140330_Charles_Baird_Parker__61__son_of_jazz_great.html Charles Baird Parker 61 Son of Jazz Great]. ''[[Philly.com]]''. Retrieved June 29, 2016.</ref> and his daughter, Pree (who died at age 3).<ref name="Pree" /> He considered Chan his wife, although he never married her; nor did he divorce his previous wife, Doris, whom he had married in 1948.<ref name=":2" />

The death of Parker's daughter Pree from pneumonia in 1954 devastated him and, after being fired from Birdland in September of that year, he attempted to commit suicide. He was hospitalized and made a partial recovery by early 1955 before his health declined again in March.<ref name=":2" /> Parker's last gig on March 4 at Birdland ended when Powell refused to play in his group and the performance spiraled into an argument among the musicians. Parker became drunk and a few days later visited the suite of [[Pannonica de Koenigswarter|Baroness Pannonica]] at the [[Stanhope Hotel]] in New York City in ill health. He refused to go to hospital and died on March 12, 1955 while watching [[The Dorsey Brothers]]' ''[[Stage Show (TV series)|Stage Show]]'' on television. The official causes of death were [[lobar pneumonia]] and a [[perforated ulcer|bleeding ulcer]], but Parker also had advanced [[cirrhosis]] and had suffered a heart attack and a seizure. The coroner who performed his autopsy mistakenly estimated Parker's 34-year-old body to be between 50 and 60 years of age.{{sfn|Reisner|1977|p=133}}{{sfn|Gitler|1966|pp=52–54}}

The details surrounding Parker's death were controversial. Doris Parker claimed that she, Parker's mother, and [[Art Blakey]] were aware of Parker's death before March 14, when Pannonica claimed she first revealed the news on a phone call to Chan. Pannonica, however, visited a nightclub on March 13, the day after Parker died at her apartment but before she informed Chan of Parker's death. Further, newspapers incorrectly reported Parker's age as 53 when he died, and Parker's tombstone incorrectly claimed that he died on March 23.{{sfn|Gitler|1966|pp=|p=55}}

Parker's marital status complicated the settling of Parker's estate and ultimately frustrated his wish to be interred in New York City.{{sfn|Gitler|1966|pp=|p=55}} [[Dizzy Gillespie]] paid for the funeral arrangements,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/jazz/about/pdfs/Parker.pdf |title=Ken Burns interviews Chan Parker|website=Pbs.org |access-date=March 10, 2011}}</ref> which included a Harlem procession officiated by Congressman and Reverend [[Adam Clayton Powell Jr.]] at the Abyssinian Baptist Church{{sfn|Gitler|1966|pp=|p=55}} and a memorial concert. Parker's body was flown back to Missouri, in accordance with his mother's wishes. Chan criticized Doris and Parker's family for giving him a Christian funeral even though they knew he was an [[Atheism|atheist]].{{sfn|Russell|1973|p=361}} Parker was buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Missouri, in a hamlet known as [[Blue Summit, Missouri|Blue Summit]], located close to I-435 and East Truman Road.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Leadbeater |first=Chris |date=2016-02-04 |title=The death of Charlie Parker - and his New York afterlife |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/north-america/united-states/new-york/articles/The-death-of-Charlie-Parker-and-his-New-York-afterlife/ |access-date=2024-08-21 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

Some amount of controversy continued after Parker's burial in the Kansas City area. His tomb was engraved with the image of a tenor saxophone, though Parker is primarily associated with the alto saxophone. Later, some people wanted to move Parker's remains to reinforce redevelopment of the historic 18th and Vine area.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 18, 1998 |title=Bird Brouhaha, or the Grave Situation of Charlie Parker |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-18-ca-55128-story.html |access-date=December 24, 2020 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" early in his career while on the road with [[Jay McShann]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Yardbird |url=http://www.birdlives.co.uk/content/yardbird |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219234852/http://www.birdlives.co.uk/content/yardbird |archive-date=December 19, 2013 |access-date=December 19, 2013 |publisher=Birdlives.co.uk}}</ref> This, and the shortened form "Bird", were used as nicknames for Parker for the rest of his life and inspired the titles of a number of Parker's compositions, such as "[[Yardbird Suite]]", "[[Ornithology (composition)|Ornithology]]", "Bird Gets the Worm", and "Bird of Paradise".

Parker's life was riddled with mental health problems and an addiction to [[heroin]].{{sfn|Haddix|2013|pp=2–3}} Although it is unclear which came first, his addiction to opiates began at the age of 16, when he was injured in a car crash and a doctor prescribed morphine for the pain. The addiction that stemmed from this incident led him to miss performances, and he was considered to be unreliable.{{sfn|Haddix|2013|pp=2–3}} In the jazz scene, heroin use was prevalent and the substance could be acquired with little difficulty.{{sfn|Haddix|2013|pp=117, 139–140}}

Although he produced many brilliant recordings during this period, Parker's behavior became increasingly erratic. Heroin was difficult to obtain once he moved to California, where the drug was less abundant, so he used alcohol as a substitute. A recording for the [[Dial Records (1946)|Dial]] label from July 29, 1946 provides evidence of his condition. Before this session, Parker drank a [[quart]] of [[whiskey]]. According to the liner notes of ''[[Charlie Parker on Dial#Volume 1|Charlie Parker on Dial Volume 1]]'',{{Reliable|date=April 2025}} Parker missed most of the first two bars of his first chorus on the track "Max Making Wax". When he finally did come in, he swayed wildly and once spun all the way around, away from his microphone. On the next tune, "[[Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)|Lover Man]]", producer [[Ross Russell (jazz)|Ross Russell]] physically supported Parker. On "Bebop" (the final track Parker recorded that evening), he begins a solo with a solid first eight bars; on his second eight bars, however, he begins to struggle, and a desperate [[Howard McGhee]], the trumpeter on this session, shouts, "Blow!" at him. [[Charles Mingus]], however, considered this version of "Lover Man" to be among Parker's greatest recordings, despite its flaws.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Masters of Bebop: A Listener's Guide |last=Gitler |first=Ira |author-link=Ira Gitler |year=2001 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=0-306-81009-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mastersofbebopli00gitl/page/33 33] |quote=Charles Mingus once chose it when asked to name his favorite Parker recordings. 'I like all', he said, 'none more than the other, but I'd have to pick "Lover Man" for the feeling he had then and his ability to express that feeling.' |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mastersofbebopli00gitl/page/33}}</ref> Nevertheless, Parker hated the recording and never forgave Ross Russell for releasing it. He re-recorded the tune in 1951 for [[Verve Records|Verve]]. Parker's life took a turn for the worse in March 1954 when his three-year-old daughter Pree died of [[cystic fibrosis]] and [[pneumonia]].<ref name="Pree">[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/mar/21/charlie-parker-julie-macdonald-sculpture Charlie Parker: a genius distilled]. ''[[TheGuardian.com]]''. March 21, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2018.</ref> He attempted [[suicide]] twice in 1954, which once again landed him in a mental hospital.<ref>{{Citation |last=nyakuti5 |title=The Charlie Parker Story |date=December 24, 2007 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g53WF-UjhEA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190104071714/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g53WF-UjhEA&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=January 4, 2019 |access-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Attempted Suicide">{{cite web | title=Charlie Parker | website=Blue Note Records | date=2019-04-26 | url=https://www.bluenote.com/artist/charlie-parker/ | access-date=2025-05-07}}</ref>

==Artistry==
Parker's style of composition involved [[Interpolation (popular music)|interpolation]] of original melodies over existing jazz forms and standards, a practice known as [[contrafact]] and still common in jazz today. Examples include "[[Ornithology (composition)|Ornithology]]" (which borrows the chord progression of jazz standard "[[How High the Moon]]" and is said to be co-written with trumpet player Little Benny Harris), and "[[Moose the Mooche|Moose The Mooche]]" (one of many Parker compositions based on the chord progression of "[[I Got Rhythm]]"). The practice was not uncommon prior to bebop, but it became a signature of the movement as artists began to move away from arranging popular standards and toward composing their own material. Perhaps Parker's most well-known contrafact is "Koko", which is based on the chord changes of the popular bebop tune "Cherokee", written by Ray Noble.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2000/08/27/1081208/-i-ko-ko-i|title = The Story of Charlie Parker's 'Ko Ko'|website = NPR.org}}</ref>

While tunes such as "Now's The Time", "[[Billie's Bounce]]", "[[Au Privave]]", [[Barbados (composition)|"Barbados"]], "Relaxin' at Camarillo", "[[Bloomdido]]", and "Cool Blues" were based on conventional [[12-bar blues]] changes, Parker also created a unique version of the 12-bar blues for tunes such as "[[Blues for Alice]]", "Laird Baird", and "Si Si." These unique chords are known popularly as "[[Bird Changes]]". Like his solos, some of his compositions are characterized by long, complex melodic lines and a minimum of repetition, although he did employ the use of repetition in some tunes, most notably [[Now's the Time (composition)|"Now's The Time".]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Parker contributed greatly to the [[Bebop|modern jazz]] solo, one in which [[Tuplet|triplets]] and [[Anacrusis#Music|pick-up notes]] were used in unorthodox ways to lead into chord tones, affording the soloist more freedom to use [[passing tone]]s, which soloists previously avoided. His recordings were used for a book of solo transcriptions, the posthumously published ''[[Charlie Parker Omnibook]]''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Other well-known Parker compositions include "[[Ah-Leu-Cha]]", [[Anthropology (composition)|"Anthropology"]] (co-written with Gillespie), [[Confirmation (composition)|"Confirmation"]], [[Constellation (composition)|"Constellation"]], "[[Moose the Mooche]]", "[[Scrapple from the Apple]]" and "[[Yardbird Suite]]", the vocal version of which is called "What Price Love", with lyrics by Parker.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

[[Miles Davis]] once said, "You can tell the history of jazz in four words: [[Louis Armstrong]]. Charlie Parker".<ref>{{cite book |title=Clawing at the Limits of Cool: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the Greatest Jazz Collaboration Ever |url=https://archive.org/details/clawingatlimitso00grif |url-access=registration |first2=Salim |last2=Washington |first1=Farah Jasmine |last1=Griffin |year=2008 |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/clawingatlimitso00grif/page/237 237] |isbn=9780312327859 }}</ref>

==Discography==
{{Main|Charlie Parker discography}}

==Recognition==

===Awards===
[[File:XBird Lives by Robert Graham.jpg|thumb|upright|"Bird Lives" sculpture by [[Robert Graham (sculptor)|Robert Graham]] in Kansas City, Missouri]]

'''Grammy Award'''
{| class=wikitable
|-
! colspan="6" style="text-align:center;" | [[Grammy Award]] history<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828211949/https://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=charlie+parker&field_nominee_work_value=&year=1974&genre=All&=Search |url-status=dead |title=Awards Nominations & Winners |date=April 30, 2017 |archive-date=August 28, 2015 |website=Grammy.com}}</ref>
|-
! Year
! Category
! Title
! Genre
! Label
! Result
|-
| 1974
| Best Performance by a Soloist
| ''First Recordings!''
| Jazz
| Onyx
| Winner
|}

'''Grammy Hall of Fame'''

Recordings of Charlie Parker were inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame Award|Grammy Hall of Fame]], which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance".

{| class=wikitable
|-
! colspan="6" style="text-align:center;" | Grammy Hall of Fame Awards<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626200735/https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |url-status=dead |title=Grammy Hall of Fame Database |archive-date=June 26, 2015}}</ref>
|-
! Year recorded
! Title
! Genre
! Label
! Year inducted
|-
| 1945
| "[[Billie's Bounce]]"
| Jazz (Single)
| Savoy
| 2002
|-
| 1953
| ''[[Jazz at Massey Hall]]''
| Jazz (Album)
| Debut
| 1995
|-
| 1946
| "[[Ornithology (composition)|Ornithology]]"
| Jazz (Single)
| Dial
| 1989
|-
| 1950
| ''[[Charlie Parker with Strings]]''
| Jazz (Album)
| Mercury
| 1988
|}

'''Inductions'''
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Year inducted
! Title
|-
| 2004
| [[Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame|Jazz at Lincoln Center: Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame]]
|-
| 1984
| [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]]
|-
| 1979
| [[Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame]]
|}

===Government honors===
In 1995, the [[U.S. Postal Service]] issued a 32-cent commemorative postage stamp in Parker's honor.<ref>{{cite web |author=Richard Tucker |url=http://esperstamps.org/aa36.htm |title=Charlie Parker: 32 cents Commemorative stamp |publisher=Esperstamps.org |access-date=March 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719230131/http://esperstamps.org/aa36.htm |archive-date=July 19, 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

In 2002, the [[Library of Congress]] honored his recording "[[Ko-Ko]]" (1945) by adding it to the [[List of recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry|National Recording Registry]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Komara |first=Ed |date=2002 |title="Ko Ko"-- Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and others (1945) |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/ko-ko.pdf |access-date= |work=Library of Congress}}</ref>

===Charlie Parker residence===
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                     = Charlie Parker Residence
| nrhp_type                = nrhp
| image                    = Charlie Parker Residence 151 Avenue B.jpg
| caption                  = 151 Avenue B in 2011
| locmapin                 = New York City
| coordinates              = {{coord|40|43|36|N|73|58|50|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark_dim:5km|display=inline}}
| location                 = 151 Avenue B<br />Manhattan, New York City
| built                    = circa 1849
| architecture             = [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]]
| added                    = April 7, 1994<ref>[http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natregsearchresult.do?fullresult=true&recordid=62 "Parker, Charlie, Residence"] on the NRHP database</ref>
| designated_nrhp_type     = April 7, 1994
| refnum                   = 94000262
| designated_other2_name   = NYC Landmark
| designated_other2_date   = May 18, 1999<ref name=desrep>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/1999CharlieParkerResidence.pdf|title=Charlie Parker Residence Designation Report|publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|archive-date=May 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512041407/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/1999CharlieParkerResidence.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| designated_other2_abbr   = NYCL
| designated_other2_link   = New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
| designated_other2_number =
| designated_other2_color  = #ff0000
}}
From 1950 to 1954, Parker lived with Chan Berg on the ground floor of the townhouse at 151 Avenue B, across from [[Tompkins Square Park]] in Manhattan's [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]]. The [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] building, which was built about 1849,<ref name=nycland>{{cite nycland}}, p. 69</ref> was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1994<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.charlieparkerresidence.net/ |title=Charlie Parker: The Charlie Parker Residence, NYC |publisher=Charlieparkerresidence.net |access-date=March 10, 2011 |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719221914/https://charlieparkerresidence.net/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and was designated a [[List of New York City Landmarks|New York City landmark]] in 1999. Avenue B between East 9th and East 10th Streets was given the honorary designation "Charlie Parker Place" in 1992.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

===Musical tributes===
* [[Jack Kerouac]]'s spoken poem "Charlie Parker" to backing piano by [[Steve Allen]] on ''[[Poetry for the Beat Generation]]'' (1959){{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* In 2014, saxophonist and bandleader [[Aaron M. Johnson|Aaron Johnson]] produced historically accurate recreations of the ''Charlie Parker with Strings'' albums.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reverbnation.com/aaronjohnson2|title=Aaron Johnson|publisher=[[ReverbNation]]}}</ref>
* [[Lennie Tristano]]'s overdubbed solo piano piece "Requiem" was recorded in tribute to Parker shortly after his death.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* American composer [[Moondog]] wrote his famous "Bird's Lament" in his memory; published on the 1969 album ''[[Moondog (1969 album)|Moondog]]''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* Since 1972, the Californian ensemble [[Supersax]] harmonized many of Parker's improvisations for a five-piece saxophone section.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* In 1973, guitarist [[Joe Pass]] released his album ''[[I Remember Charlie Parker]]'' in Parker's honor.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/i-remember-charlie-parker-mw0000691113 | title=Joe Pass: I Remember Charlie Parker | publisher=[[AllMusic]].com | access-date=July 1, 2016 | author=Yanow, Scott| author-link=Scott Yanow }}</ref>
* [[Weather Report]]'s jazz fusion track and highly acclaimed big band standard "[[Birdland (Weather Report song)|Birdland]]", from the ''[[Heavy Weather (album)|Heavy Weather]]'' album (1977), was a dedication by bandleader [[Joe Zawinul]] to both Charlie Parker and the New York 52nd Street club itself.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* The biographical song "Parker's Band" was recorded by [[Steely Dan]] on its 1974 album ''[[Pretzel Logic]]''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* Avant-garde jazz trombonist [[George E. Lewis]] recorded ''Homage to Charles Parker'' (1979).{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* The opera ''[[Charlie Parker's Yardbird]]'' by [[Daniel Schnyder]], [[libretto]] by Bridgette A. Wimberly, was premiered by [[Opera Philadelphia]] on June 5, 2015, with [[Lawrence Brownlee]] in the title role.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.operaphila.org/whats-on/on-stage-2014-2015/charlie-parkers-yardbird/|title=Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD – Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD|first=Opera|last=Philadelphia|website=Opera Philadelphia}}</ref>
* The name of British 1960s blues-rock band [[The Yardbirds]] was at least partially inspired by Parker's nickname.<ref>Wall, M., "[https://www.loudersound.com/features/fantastically-flash-inscrutably-cool-how-the-yardbirds-shaped-rocknroll Fantastically flash, inscrutably cool: How the Yardbirds shaped rock'n'roll]," ''Loudersound.com'', January 2, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2019.</ref>
* [[Charles Mingus]]' song "Reincarnation of a Lovebird"{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* In 1993, [[Anthony Braxton]] recorded a 2-CD album titled ''[[Anthony Braxton's Charlie Parker Project 1993|Charlie Parker Project]]'', released in 1995. This material was re-released in 2018 as part of an 11-CD set titled ''Sextet (Parker) 1993''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/Anthony-Braxton-Sextet-Parker-1993/release/11868220 |title=Anthony Braxton – Sextet (Parker) 1993 |website=discogs.com |date=March 2, 2018 |access-date=September 9, 2020}}</ref>

===Other tributes===
* In 1949, the New York night club [[Birdland (jazz club)|Birdland]] was named in his honor. Three years later, [[George Shearing]] wrote "[[Lullaby of Birdland]]", named for both Parker and the nightclub.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* The 1957 short story "Sonny's Blues" by [[James Baldwin]] features a jazz/blues playing virtuoso who names Bird as the "greatest" jazz musician, whose style he hopes to emulate.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* In 1959, Jack Kerouac completed his only full-length poetry work, ''[[Mexico City Blues]]'', with two poems about Parker's  importance, writing in those works that Parker's contribution to music was comparable to [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mexico City Blues|url=https://archive.org/details/mexicocityblues00kero|url-access=registration|author=Jack Kerouac|publisher=Grove Weidenfeld|year=1990|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mexicocityblues00kero/page/242 242–243]|isbn=9780802130600}}</ref>
* The 1959 Beat comedy album ''[[How to Speak Hip]]'',  by comedians [[Del Close]] and [[John Brent (comedian)|John Brent]], lists the three top most "uncool" actions (both in the audio and in the liner notes) as follows: "It is uncool to claim that you used to room with Bird. It is uncool to claim that you have Bird's [[wikt:axe#Etymology 1|axe]]. It is even less cool to ask 'Who is Bird?'"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iotaillustration.posterous.com/how-to-speak-hip-mercury-records-1959|title='How to Speak Hip' – Mercury Records 1959|publisher=Iotaillustration.posterous.com|date=January 7, 2011|access-date=March 10, 2020|archive-date=April 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130415181609/http://iotaillustration.posterous.com/how-to-speak-hip-mercury-records-1959|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* A memorial to Parker was dedicated in 1999 in Kansas City at 17th Terrace and The Paseo, near the [[American Jazz Museum]] located at 18th and Vine, featuring a {{convert|10|ft|m|0|adj=on}} tall bronze head sculpted by [[Robert Graham (sculptor)|Robert Graham]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* The [[Charlie Parker Jazz Festival]] is a free two-day music festival that takes place every summer on the last weekend of August in Manhattan, New York City, at [[Marcus Garvey Park]] in Harlem and [[Tompkins Square Park]] in the Lower East Side, sponsored by the non-profit organization [[City Parks Foundation]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* The [[Annual Charlie Parker Celebration]] is an annual festival held in Kansas City, Kansas since 2014. It is held for 10 days and celebrates all aspects of Parker, from live jazz music and bootcamps, to tours of his haunts in the city, to exhibits at the American Jazz Museum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/2nd-annual-charlie-parker-celebration-begins-thursday-in-kansas-city|title=2nd annual Charlie Parker Celebration begins Thursday in Kansas City|publisher=KSHB|date=August 20, 2015|access-date=February 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211081219/http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/2nd-annual-charlie-parker-celebration-begins-thursday-in-kansas-city|archive-date=February 11, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In the short-story collection ''Las armas secretas'' (''The Secret Weapons''), [[Julio Cortázar]] dedicated "El perseguidor" ("The Pursuer") to Charlie Parker. This story examines the last days of a drug-addicted saxophonist through the eyes of his biographer.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* In 1981, jazz historian [[Phil Schaap]] began to host ''Bird Flight'', a radio show on WKCR New York dedicated entirely to Parker's music.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Genzlinger|first=Neil|date=September 8, 2021|title=Phil Schaap, Grammy-Winning Jazz D.J. and Historian, Dies at 70|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/arts/music/phil-schaap-dead.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/arts/music/phil-schaap-dead.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |url-access=limited|access-date=September 9, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The program continues to be broadcast on WKCR in 2022.<ref>{{cite news|last=Page|first=Tim|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/phil-schaap-dead/2021/09/08/a5267226-10a2-11ec-bc8a-8d9a5b534194_story.html|title=Phil Schaap, jazz scholar, historian and broadcaster, dies at 70|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 8, 2021|access-date=September 9, 2021}}</ref>
* In 1984, modern dance choreographer [[Alvin Ailey]] created the piece ''For Bird – With Love'' in honor of Parker. The piece chronicles his life from his early career to his failing health.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* A biographical film called ''[[Bird (1988 film)|Bird]]'', starring [[Forest Whitaker]] as Parker and directed by [[Clint Eastwood]], was released in 1988.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* In 1999 the Spanish metal band [[Saratoga (band)|Saratoga]] created the song ''Charlie se Fue'' in honor of Charlie Parker, for the album ''Vientos de Guerra''.
* In 2005, the [[Henri Selmer Paris|Selmer]] Paris saxophone manufacturer commissioned a special "Tribute to Bird"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.connselmer.com/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209103455/http://www.selmer.com/content/article.php?id=90|url-status=dead|title=Conn Selmer Homepage|archivedate=February 9, 2012|website=www.connselmer.com|accessdate=August 4, 2024}}</ref> alto saxophone, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Parker's death (1955–2005).
* Parker's performances of "I Remember You" (recorded for [[Clef Records]] in 1953, with the Charlie Parker Quartet, comprising Parker on alto sax, [[Al Haig]] on piano, [[Percy Heath]] on bass, and Max Roach on drums) and "[[Parker's Mood]]" (recorded for the Savoy label in 1948, with Parker on alto sax, [[John Lewis (pianist)|John Lewis]] on piano, [[Curley Russell]] on bass, and Max Roach on drums) were selected by literary critic [[Harold Bloom]] for inclusion on his shortlist of the "twentieth-century American Sublime", the greatest works of American art produced in the 20th century. A vocalese version of "Parker's Mood" was a popular success for [[King Pleasure]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* [[Jean-Michel Basquiat]] created many paintings to honor Charlie Parker, including ''[[Charles the First (1982 painting)|Charles the First]]'', ''CPRKR'', ''[[Bird on Money]]'', ''[https://www.sothebys.com/content/dam/stb/lots/PF1/PF1205/169PF1205_3PFXW_1.jpg Bird of Paradise] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514221719/https://www.sothebys.com/content/dam/stb/lots/PF1/PF1205/169PF1205_3PFXW_1.jpg |date=May 14, 2021 }}'', and ''Discography I''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* [[Charlie Watts]], drummer for [[the Rolling Stones]], wrote a children's book entitled ''Ode to a High Flying Bird'' as a tribute to Parker. Watts has cited Parker as a large influence on his life when he was a boy learning jazz.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* The 2014 film ''[[Whiplash (2014 film)|Whiplash]]'' repeatedly refers to the 1937 incident at the Reno Club, changing the aim point of the cymbals to his head and pointing to it as evidence that genius is not born but made by relentless practice and pitiless peers.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* Parker is referenced in the 2023 video game ''[[Marvel's Spider-Man 2]]''. In the game, there is a side mission in which Parker's Saxophone is stolen and must be recovered by [[Alternative versions of Spider-Man #Insomniac's Miles Morales|Miles Morales / Spider-Man]]. Once recovered, a character discusses Parker's music, making reference to his song, "Ornithology", and discussing his impact on jazz and hip hop.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* Parker is mentioned in the comic strip [[The Far Side]] and Gary Larson invites his audience to find amusement in what he perceives as Parker's disdain for introspective or slow-moving [[New Age]] music; implying that the legendary saxophonist would find it "hellishly" insipid.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

==Citations==

===References===
{{reflist|24em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Crouch |first=Stanley |author-link=Stanley Crouch |title=Kansas City Lighting: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker |year=2013 |publisher=Harper Perennial |location=New York }}
* {{cite book |last=Giddins |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Giddins |title=Visions of Jazz: The First Century |year=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513241-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Giddins |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Giddins |title=Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker |year=2013 |edition=Revised |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0-8166-9041-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gitler |first=Ira |author-link=Ira Gitler |title=Jazz Masters of the Forties |year=1966 |edition= |publisher=MacMillian Co. |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=Haddix |first=Chuck |title=Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker |year=2013 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn= 978-0-252-09517-7 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Priestley |first1=Brian |title=Charlie Parker |publisher=Spellmount |location=Tunbridge Wells |year=1984 |isbn= |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/charlieparker00pries/page/14/mode/2up }}
* {{cite book |last=Reisner |first=George |title=Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker |url=https://archive.org/details/birdlegendofchar00reis |url-access=registration |year=1977 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=New York |isbn=9780306800696 }}
* {{cite book |last=Russell |first=Ross |author-link=Ross Russell (jazz) |title=Bird Lives! The High Life & Hard Times of Charlie (Yardbird) Parker |year=1973 |publisher=Charterhouse |location=New York |isbn=0-306-80679-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Woideck |first=Carl |title=Charlie Parker: His Music and Life |year=1998 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=0-472-08555-7 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* [[Jamey Aebersold|Aebersold, Jamey]], editor (1978). ''[[Charlie Parker Omnibook]]''. New York: Michael H. Goldsen.
* Koch, Lawrence (1999). [https://archive.org/details/yardbirdsuitecom0000koch/mode/1up?view=theater ''Yardbird Suite: A Compendium of the Music and Life of Charlie Parker'']. Boston, Northeastern University Press. {{ISBN|1-55553-384-1}}
* Parker, Chan (1999). ''My Life In E-Flat''. University Of South Carolina Press. {{ISBN|1-57003-245-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Woideck |first1=Carl |title=Charlie Parker: His Music and Life |date=1996 |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |location=[[Ann Arbor]] |url-access=registration | oclc = 34990200|isbn=9780472103706 |url=https://archive.org/details/charlieparkerhis0000woid_j4p1/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=14 January 2025}}
* Woideck, Carl, editor (1998). [https://archive.org/details/charlieparkercom0000unse/mode/1up?view=theater ''The Charlie Parker Companion: Six Decades of Commentary'']. New York: Schirmer Books. {{ISBN|0-02-864714-9}}
* Yamaguchi, Masaya, editor (1955). ''Yardbird Originals''. New York: Charles Colin, reprinted 2005.

==External links==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=no|about=yes|wikititle=Charlie Parker}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://charliebirdparker.com The Official Site of Charlie "Yardbird" Parker]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Charlie+Parker Charlie Parker] discography at [[Discogs]]
* [http://www.jazzdisco.org/bird/ Charlie Parker discography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070209215729/http://www.kyushu-ns.ac.jp/~allan/Documents/CP_M.html Charlie Parker Sessionography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070624220320/http://www.umkc.edu/orgs/kcjazz/jazzfolk/parkc_00.htm Clips and notes about Parker]
* [http://www.birdlives.co.uk Bird Lives – Thinking About Charlie Parker]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cz1j Great Lives – Charlie Parker nominated by Ken Clarke]

{{Charlie Parker}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Jazz|New York City|United States}}

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