#bird lives

Charlie Parker Memorial  18th St & Vine  KC MO

“But of course his music does not agree with everyone’s taste and philosophy of life. The escapist will find nothing to like in Charlie Parker, and perhaps even feel repulsed by his art, which is realist in the best and most profound sense of the word, and which ruthlessly expresses the uncertainty, doubts, and angst-ridden loneliness of modern man. One does not play Parker's records on an everyday basis; exactly because they mean so much, they are only brought out on rare occasions. But in fact, while they confront us mercilessly with ourselves, they also bring the resolution of showing us that we are not alone in being lonely, and that others also feel the same angst and doubts. These records are, first and foremost, irrefutable and deeply true documents of the times we live in, which is much more important than their ‘immortality’ and the potential reverence of future listeners. In his day, Louis Armstrong allowed modern man to rediscover the childish immediacy which lives inside us as an unrealized potential, but his music also inspired a desire to escape from our circumstance into carefree and irresponsible play, and to solve any problems by simply closing our eyes to them. It is to Charlie Parker’s everlasting credit that he managed to polish that facet of jazz which reflects and shows us the shadow-side of our modern consciousness.” - from Erik Wiedemann: Eulogy for Charlie Parker, 1955

(via Ornithology - Sonny Stitt, Stitt plays Bird (1966) - YouTube)

A DSLR selfie with a Charlie Parker statue

Charlie 'Bird' Parker, bebop saxophonist and composer, died 61 years ago today. He was 34. http://wp.me/p4Mrv-2YY