Charlie Parker
When Hugh Bell's photo of the imitable Charlie Parker was taken at the Open Door Cafe near Thompson Street by New York's Washington Square Park, he was moments away from passing out. His fellow players didn't realize what had happened until Parker missed his cue at the end of the piece. By the time this picture was taken in 1953, Parker had already revolutionized the jazz art form, but had also ruined his health.
Arguably the greatest alto saxophonist of all time, Charlie Parker's sound is immediately identifiable to millions of fans almost a half century after his death. He's often referred to as a tragic musical genius, but ironically, his early playing, begun while still a teen, showed nothing of his later virtuosity. Completely self-taught, Parker, nicknamed "Bird" possibly after the yardbirds (chicken) he so enjoyed, developed his singular style in the years between his early gigs in Kansas City, his hometown, and his arrival in New York City. There he met his most important collaborator, Dizzy Gillespie, Bird's breakneck tempo, replete with double-time lines, improvisation often played using higher intervals of chords not used in jazz before, amazed fans and critics. As co-leaders of a combo group, Bird and Dizzy birthed the bebop sound in the 1950's.
In a life that lasted only thirty-five years, Charles Parker created a legacy which persists with every successive generation of jazz musicians.
Writer Nancy Thompson