Charlie parker

Charlie Parker, thanks to Jonathan Pizzolo

Legendary composer and pianist Duke Ellington often sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" as part of his sets, and with good reason: The city by the bay hosted a booming jazz scene in the early 20th century. If you can imagine, it wasn't unheard of to see Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, or Louis...

As readers of this blog know, JazzWax is read daily by jazz fans worldwide. For a humble writer like me, it's exhilarating to know that without paper, ink, a printing press, postage, a fulfillment department, marketers or postal workers, I...

From legendary photographer Herman Leonard, a rare glimpse of the underbelly of a cultural revolution through stunning, luminous never-before-seen images of jazz icons.

Charles Parker Jr Colorized by Marina Amaral

Explore Authentic Charlie Parker Stock Photos & Images For Your Project Or Campaign. Less Searching, More Finding With Getty Images.

Charlie Parker

New series of jazz prints, featuring Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.

Charlie Parker Performing at Lindsay's Sky Bar, circa 1952-1953 Photograph of Charlie Parker by Frank Kuchirchuk © 2009 Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio.

Bird

The sexiest backdrop to be a drug addict: Jazz. A little known fact about our jazz greats from Coltrane in the photo above to Charlie Parker, hard drugs were believed to be the channel of musical greatness. Coltrane struggled with heavy alcohol use along with a heroine addiction. This musical environment was fresh, scandalous, edgy and wild- quite normal for the music industry of today. But this is where that lifestyle derives from. The jazz age laid the foundation of drug use for music.

Charlie Parker screenprint, Basquiat style

“Bird was kind of like the sun, giving off the energy we drew from him,” Max Roach said of the alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. The sun set early for Parker, who died at thirty-four of pneumonia on March 12, 1955. He was a world-class musician, but he was also a world-class addict. His body was so haggard that the doctor who examined him estimated his age at fifty-three.

In the photograph of Charlie “Bird” Parker playing his saxophone in his hometown, featured above, he looks enraptured. He’s 18 and just a few months away...

Wallpaper

Whitney Balliett on the brilliance of the jazz saxophonist and composer Charlie Parker.

Charlie Parker Collection Songbook: Alto Saxophone

“Any musician who says he is playing better either on tea, the needle, or when he is juiced, is a plain, straight liar. When I get too much to drink, I can't even finger well, let alone play decent...