Charlie Parker, the rare bird

By: Joe Farmer Follow

In August, "L'épopée des Musiques Noires" rolls out the red carpet to the great figures of jazz from yesterday and today. Our series, "Les Étoiles du Jazz", richly illustrated with unpublished accounts, will draw the portrait of a few icons whose artistic commitment has accompanied social changes in the 20th century. 

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We nicknamed him “Bird”… Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City on August 29, 2020, exactly 100 years ago. A formidable saxophonist, he was one of the major architects of a musical movement, the Be Bop, in the heart of the 1940s, initiated by a generation of cheeky young people determined to shake up the swing of the elderly. Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker were thus the agitators of a troubled time during which the first fronds against social oppression tried to unite a divided black community. 

On December 24, 1949 in New York, saxophonist Charlie Parker's quintet performed at Carnegie Hall. The performance of these five distinguished musicians is relayed on the airwaves of "Voice of America" ​​radio. The virtuosity of the soloist is undeniable and confirms that a musical revolution has taken place. Until then jazz was dancing music that caressed the ears of swing enthusiasts. The emergence of a new generation of fiery instrumentalists will shake up the African-American musical landscape of the time and bring these newcomers into "the epic of Black Music". The high technicality of the musicians is breathtaking and unprecedented in the universe of American popular music of the 1940s. Bebop has just been born and Charlie Parker is one of its most vibrant representatives. But before reaching this perfection, there were months and months of intensive practice.

When little Charlie Parker was born on August 29, 1920, the America of the Roaring Twenties approved and praised a harmless swing on which the white bourgeoisie swayed on Saturday evenings, in posh balls, in the heart of the big cities of the North of the States. -United. It would take the audacity and courage of young black musicians for the soundtrack of the time to become rougher and more authentic, a true reflection of the unequal American society of the day. In Kansas City, where Charlie Parker grew up, passing big bands punctuate the settling of scores between drug and alcohol traffickers. The largest city of Missouri is then not very frequent and it is in this underworld that Charlie Parker must learn to find his way.

In 1940, Charlie Parker was 20 years old and was part of pianist Jay McShann's orchestra. Already, his impetuosity is noticeable. Excessive character, absolute genius, outstanding improviser, everything has been said about Charlie Parker but some of his contemporaries tempered these laudatory qualifiers, having known the hesitations, doubts and uncertainties of the musician stammering at the beginning. If his apprenticeship was laborious, no one can dispute the place that Charlie Parker occupies today in the Jazz Hall of Fame. Disappeared on March 12, 1955 at only 34 years old, he was a sparkling comet that accelerated the history of African-American music in the space of 15 years. 100 years after his birth, the name Charlie Parker continues to arouse the admiration of his followers or heirs. The fervor that accompanied Charlie Parker's performances, especially when performing with his friend Dizzy Gillespie, was exceptional. These two immense instrumentalists were brothers and their artistic union remains, in 2020, a model of accomplice virtuosity for many young budding musicians.

A century has passed since the birth of "Bird". The rare bird continues to fly over our musical landscape and to subjugate its unwavering admirers. 

http://charlieparkermusic.com

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