Charlie Parker Essay, Research Paper
“ They teach you that there is a boundary line to music, but, adult male, there ’ s no boundary line to art ” .
– Charlie Parker
One of many great quotation marks that came from one of the most of import figures in wind and besides an of import figure in American history. Bing that wind is American history.
Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kansas on August 29, 1920. He was born under the name Charles Parker Jr. Charles Parker Sr didn ’ t play a immense function in Charlie ’ s life. He shortly left Charlie and his female parent after Charlie was born. Charlie ’ s female parent, Adelaide “ Addie ” Bailey, was a strong independent adult female who was half African American and half Choctaw. She shortly moved the household across province lines into Kansas City, Missouri.
Charles so began traveling to school. He wasn ’ t the best pupil and it was said that if he put every bit much attempt into his school assignment as he did his music he would be a professor. In 1931 Charlie went to Lincoln High School in K. C. There he played in the school set, which was directed by Alonzo Lewis.
In 1934 Rebecca Ruffin moved into the house with Charlie and his female parent. It was Rebecca, her siblings, and her divorced female parent that became one with the Parker household. Rebecca and Charlie started acquiring really near and became “ good ” friends. Since they both went to the same high school and lived together. Around this clip Charlie started experimenting with Kansas City ’ s up and coming wind scene. In 1933 Charlie asked his female parent to by him an alto saxophone and she bought him a used 1 for 45 dollars. This was the fuel to the eternal fire.
Charlie had no formal music experience he took what he could to play music. The lone experience he truly did hold was he short span of playing in the school set. He would larn everything he could be mousing into nines, standing in the room access, and seeking to memorise everything that came out from those begrimed K. C. nightclubs. He would travel to the films and seek to memorise theme vocals and play them when he got home. It was a procedure of test and trial and it seems in the terminal that it paid off.
When Charlie turned 15 ( 1935 ) he decided he was traveling to seek his fortune as a professional wind instrumentalist. Well if he wanted to make it, he certainly did pick a good topographic point. Kansas City was a hopping metropolis at the clip and shortly became “ the centre of wind for the Southwest, ” as Carl Woideck would set it. Drugs and Prostitution were everyplace and the metropolis wasn ’ t so touched by the Prohibition Torahs as some metropoliss in the E. Drugs, Sex and Alcohol it sounds like a good topographic point to hold a party and that is what it became. Charlie shortly learned about a drug he would ne’er bury. He was foremost introduced to heroin at 15 in 1935. An histrion friend introduced him to the drug, and he ne’er forgot that “ gift ” . As he put it “ It all came from being introduced excessively early to dark life? . When you ’ re non mature plenty to cognize what is go oning -well you goof, ” ( Carl Woideck, Charlie Parker, page 7 ) .
In 1936 Rebecca saw merely how close her girl and Charlie we acquiring and she moved them out of the Parker ’ s house. They still found ways to see each other. Young love merely can ’ t be held back so on July 25th 1936 the matrimony became official and Rebecca moved back into the house. In November of 1936 Charlie was on his was to a occupation in the Ozark Mountains when the auto he was in slide on some ice and crashed. One of the set members died and another was earnestly injured. Charlie broke a twosome ribs and fractured his spinal column. These hurts are what seemed to put Charlie into a fully fledged drug addict. He started utilizing diacetylmorphine more and more as a manner of covering with the hurting from the accident. Then it merely got worse and worse.
In 1937 Charlie met Jay McShann and Henry “ Buster ” Smith. Jay McShann became a friend and Henry “ Buster ” Smith became kind of a wise man. Henry formed a set in the autumn of 1937 and asked Parker to fall in. Parker ’ s drug dependence was acquiring worse and worse he didn ’ t keep a steady occupation and was leaping from gig to gig. On January 10th 1938, Francis Leon Parker was born. Named after Leon “ Chu ” Berry a tenor saxist that Charlie admired.
In early 1939 Charlie decided that he had to go forth and acquire to New York. He called Rebecca up to their room and said “ Rebecca set me free ” and so she did. He called his female parent in the room and said “ Rebecca has set me free and every bit long as they live I want her and my boy to hold a roof over their caput and nutrient in their mouth. ” Then he pawned his horn and hopped a cargo train to Chicago and made his was to New York.
It wasn ’ t the easiest for Charlie when he was in New York and he had to make whatever he could make to acquire by. For a piece he washed dishes at a topographic point called Jimmy ’ s Chicken Shack, there he foremost got some influence by some great stars such as Thelonis Monk. As clip went on around 1941 things started picking up for Charlie in the music scene. He started thronging at some Harlem cabarets and he was get downing to acquire introduced to some existent cool cats. Charlie became involved with Jay McShann and his Orchestra once more and shortly Dizzy Gillespie and Cab Calloway became involved. Dizzy and Charlie shortly started to develop a relationship.
Many things happened from this point on Parker got involved in another set in April of 1943 the set included Dizzy Gillespie, “ Little ” Benny Harris, Bennie Green, Wardell Gary, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, and Charlie Parker. This was the new Earl Hines group. Things went on and on and some partnerships got
split up but one that ever remained was Dizzy and Charlie. As clip went on they got assorted entering done and got their names out into the universe. They decided to take a trip to California.
Dizzy brought six cats with him to California alternatively of five because he new Charlie would sometimes non demo up. His diacetylmorphine dependence was acquiring worse and worse. Dizzy and the cats finally went back to New York and Parker cashed his ticket and stayed in California. He became worse and worse and eventually broke down. He stumbled into a recording session and fumbled his manner thought half of it. He had to be taken back to the hotel because he was so messed up. He shortly got arrested for throwing a fit in the room and was admitted to a psychiatric infirmary. Thingss went on and eventually he made in back to New York on April 7, 1947.
Parker while in New York went through many adult females and did a batch of entering. He eventually had two kids with Chan Richardson. In 1954 his girl by her Pree died of a bosom status that she was born with. This crushed Parker and sent him over the border. For the twosome of old ages before this he had been playing out and entering with a figure of different people but he loss of his girl sent his life in a new downward spiral. Charlie was hospitalized several times for emotional jobs and alcohol/drug maltreatment.
His last of import occupation was at Birdland on March 4 and 5th 1955. He was portion of an all-star type group that included Kenny Dorham, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Art Blakey. The first dark went good, but on the 2nd dark Charlie and Powell fought. Parker got drafted while playing and was asked by the director to go forth the nine that was named after him. Parker reportedly said “ Mingus, I ’ m goin someplace, reasonably shortly, where I ’ m non gon na trouble oneself anybody. ” The following twenty-four hours was the annual day of remembrance of his girl ’ s decease.
There are a couple different narratives about how Charlie died. The most recognized one is that on his manner out of New York he stopped at an old friends house. Panonica “ Nica ” de Koenigswarter. Parkers physician examined him there and said that he was sick and should be taken to a infirmary. Charlie didn ’ t agree with that and decided to remain at that place for a piece. By March 12, he was in better wellness and he could sit up and watch Television. That dark while he was sitting and watching the Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey ’ s demo, he started express joying and choked and died. Another narrative is that he died due to internal hurts that he had received in a battle a twosome darks earlier. A more recent narrative is that Parker had gotten changeable and physician was paid to cover it up. Whatever the existent narrative is we can ne’er be perfectly certain. The lone thing that we can be certain of is that he is a musical mastermind.
I chose a concert by Charlie Parker to Analyze. The concert I chose in the 1949 concert at Carnegie Hall. During this public presentation Bird was at his extremum of heroin dependence and maltreatment. His life was helter-skelter and unorganised and it reflects in some of the vocals. The lunacy he was populating and besides the desperation he seemed to hold.
I liked every individual vocal on the album and as I listened to it more I liked it more and more. The first vocal was titled Ornithology, this vocal seemed kind of Angry to me really wild and be-boppy. He would merely rend through the graduated tables traveling a fast and every bit wild as he seemed he could. I was like he was acquiring out all of his aggression. The cornet wasn ’ t every bit wild as the Sax but still kept up and stood its land and the piano was a quite mutter compared the Charlie shouting saxophone. I liked it, it seemed angry.
The 2nd vocal I heard was Cheryl this vocal is a batch more laid back and loosen uping it still has a be-boppy feel to it but it wasn ’ t so feverish. It was a sweet-jamming vocal, it had a truly chilled out bass line and made you tap your pes.
The following vocal was called Ko Ko and the rubric fits it. At the really get downing it is sort of sultry and sexy so it merely goes brainsick. It breaks into brainsick lines that are outrageously fast and the cornet supports right up with the Sax, and at the really end it gets all sultry and sexy once more for a minute.
The figure four vocals is one of my favourites ; it is titled Bird of Paradise. This one is different from every other vocal on the album it is a batch more laid-back and laid back. It still has fast lines but non half every bit fast as the other 1s. It is a truly sweet vocal it reminds me of a love vocal. The vocal is really sweet sounding and soft. It about sounds sad and soulful. I truly bask this vocal.
The last vocal is my absolute favourite. I love this vocal. Its called Now ’ s The Time. It is such a vocal that makes you want to tap your pes and bop your caput and dance. It is great. It has a truly great bass line and rending solos and everything you could desire in a vacillation melody. It merely makes me desire to dance and I love it. The tune is great and the cornet and Sax maintain up with each other. It is the best vocal on the album.
Bibliography
Charlie Parker-At: Carnegie Hall 1949
Alamac Record Company-vinyl
QSR 2405
Available at FIU Library
Charlie Parker Volume III
Everest Records-vinyl
FS-254
Available at FIU Library
Observing Bird ; The Triumph of Charlie Parker
1987 Toby Byron/ Multiprises. Sony Video Software.
Based on book by Gary Giddins.
Charlie Parker ;
Woideck, Carl
University of Michigan Press, 1996
