PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Music History: Charlie Parker Took Jazz

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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.