PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Music History: Charlie Parker Took Jazz

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Music History: Charlie Parker Took Jazz in a New Direction
By Vivian Bournazian

Broadcast: Sunday, July 03, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, People in America. Today, we tell about one of America's greatest jazz musicians, Charlie Parker. He influenced the direction of jazz music during his short lifetime. His influence continues today.

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VOICE ONE:

Charlie Parker forever changed the performance and writing of jazz music. He developed a new style of jazz called bebop. It was different from the dance, or swing, style that was popular for years.

 
Charlie Parker
Performers of bebop left the traditional musical melody¹ and played a song freely, with the music and rhythm that was felt at the time. So, the same song could be played in a different way each time it was performed.

Charlie Parker said: "Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn."

VOICE TWO:

Charlie Parker was born August, twenty-ninth, nineteen twenty, in the middle western state of Kansas. He had his first music lessons in the local public schools. His mother bought him a saxophone in nineteen thirty-three.

Two years later, he decided² to leave school and become a professional musician. For the next four years, he worked mainly in Kansas City, Missouri, where jazz music had become popular.

Charlie developed as a musician by playing with different groups in public eating and drinking places called nightclubs. He also learned by listening to older local jazz musicians.

During this time, Charlie developed serious problems that were to affect him the rest of his life. He became dependent on alcohol and the illegal drug, heroin³.

VOICE ONE:

One night in nineteen thirty-six, the young musician decided to take part in a "jam session. " Musicians from all over Kansas City would play for fun during these unplanned performances. These jam sessions often became musical battles. The better, the faster, the stronger, the more creative musician would win.

Charlie began to play the saxophone that night. He played well for a while. But he then became lost in the music. The drummer threw down his instrument and brought Charlie to a halt. Charlie later said: "I went home and cried and didn't play again for three months. " The incident, however, made Charlie work even harder to improve his playing.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen thirty-nine, Charlie went to New York City. He stayed for almost one year. He was able to get a few paying jobs playing the saxophone. Most of his time, though, was spent playing in unpaid⁴ jam sessions. It was during this time that he began to develop his own style of jazz.

He said later that this was when he made a big discovery. He was unhappy playing songs the same way all the time. He thought there had to be another way to play. He said: "I could hear it sometimes, but I couldn't play it."

He began working on the song "Cherokee. " He used the higher notes of a chord⁵ as a melody line and made other changes. He now could play the things he had been hearing.

It was in December, nineteen thirty-nine, that Charlie Parker made this discovery. He later said that with it, he "came alive. " Here he is playing "Cherokee":

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VOICE ONE:

Charlie Parker's name first appeared in the press reports about music in nineteen forty. During the next five years, he joined different bands. He played with the Earl Hines orchestra⁶ and the Billy Eckstine orchestra. He also played with other young jazz musicians who helped make the new sound known. Trumpet⁷ players Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, and pianists Thelonius Monk⁸ and Bud⁹ Powell were some of them.

 
CharlieParker and Dizzy Gillespie
Parker was considered the greatest of the bebop jazz musicians. This song, "Now's the Time," is one of his hits during this time:

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VOICE TWO:

Parker's continuing drug habit was affecting him. He often was late for performances. Or he missed them. He had decided he did not like the music of the big bands. He apparently¹⁰ did not feel at ease playing with a big band, even one that followed his own musical ideas.

In nineteen forty-five, he returned to New York City. He had the idea of starting a small jazz group. In New York, he joined Dizzy Gillespie. Their work together was among the greatest in American music history. They enjoyed the support of younger musicians. Yet, they had to fight the criticism of those opposed to any new development in jazz.

That year, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie took the new jazz sound to California. Charlie continued to record and perform in Los Angeles, even after Dizzy returned to New York. It was during this time that Parker recorded "Ornithology¹¹:"

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VOICE ONE:

In nineteen forty-six, Charlie Parker suffered a nervous breakdown¹². His dependence¹³ on heroin and alcohol led to this severe mental condition. He was sent to a hospital and stayed there for six months.

He returned to New York City in nineteen forty-seven. The following four years are considered his most successful. He formed his own small bands and played with other groups. He visited Europe three times, where he recorded about half of the albums he ever made.

In July, nineteen fifty-one, New York City officials took away his right to play in nightclubs because he used illegal drugs. His debts greatly increased. His physical and mental health began to fail.

VOICE TWO:

Charlie Parker was given a permit to play in New York again two years later. Jobs, though, were difficult to find. He finally got a chance to play for two nights in March, nineteen fifty-five. It was at Birdland, the most

famous jazz nightclub in New York City. Birdland had opened in nineteen forty-nine. It was named after "Bird," as Charlie Parker's followers¹⁴ called him.

Parker knew those performances might be his last chance to re-claim the success he had gained only a few years earlier. His last public appearance was on March fifth, nineteen fifty-five, at Birdland. It was not a success. He died seven days later of a heart attack. He was thirty-four.

VOICE ONE:

Charlie Parker's influence on modern jazz music continues to live. He led many artists to "play what they hear." Jazz musicians continue to perform his music, often copying his sound and style. But, experts say, no one has ever played the same as "Bird".

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VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Vivian Bournazian. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another People in America program on the Voice of America.

1 melody   

n.旋律，曲调，悦耳的音乐

参考例句：

• She struck up a folk melody on the piano.她开始用钢琴演奏那首民歌。
• After she wrote the melody,she asked us for criticisms.她做好曲之后，请我们提意见。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

4 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

5 chord   

n.和弦，和音，弦，心弦

参考例句：

• Her speech struck a deep chord in my heart.她的话深深地拨动了我的心弦。
• This is a chord of a circle.这是个圆的弦。

6 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

7 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

8 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

9 bud   

vi.发芽，萌芽；n.芽，花蕾

参考例句：

• Some flowers bud their leaves very early in spring.有些花在春季里很早发出叶来。
• A bad habit in a child should be nipped in the bud.应该尽早把孩子的坏习惯改过来。

10 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 ornithology   

n.鸟类学

参考例句：

• He found his vocation in ornithology.他发现自己适于专攻鸟类学。
• His main interests are botany and ornithology.他主要对植物学和鸟类学感兴趣。

12 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

13 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

14 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。