Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Advanced
Title details for Bird by Chuck Haddix - Available

Bird

by Chuck Haddix
ebook
Read a sample Read a sample
Saxophone virtuoso Charlie "Bird" Parker began playing professionally in his early teens, became a heroin addict at 16, changed the course of music, and then died when only 34 years old. His friend Robert Reisner observed, "Parker, in the brief span of his life, crowded more living into it than any other human being." Like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, he was a transitional composer and improviser who ushered in a new era of jazz by pioneering bebop and influenced subsequent generations of musicians. Meticulously researched and written, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker tells the story of his life, music, and career. This new biography artfully weaves together firsthand accounts from those who knew him with new information about his life and career to create a compelling narrative portrait of a tragic genius. While other books about Parker have focused primarily on his music and recordings, this portrait reveals the troubled man behind the music, illustrating how his addictions and struggles with mental health affected his life and career. He was alternatively generous and miserly; a loving husband and father at home but an incorrigible philanderer on the road; and a chronic addict who lectured younger musicians about the dangers of drugs. Above all he was a musician, who overcame humiliation, disappointment, and a life-threatening car wreck to take wing as Bird, a brilliant improviser and composer. With in-depth research into previously overlooked sources and illustrated with several never-before-seen images, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker corrects much of the misinformation and myth about one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century.
| Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Kansas City Blues 2. Buster's Tune 3. Hootie Blues 4. Bebop 5. Relaxing at Camarillo 6. Dewey Square 7. Parker's Mood Notes Sources Index | "Impressive detail, a notable addition to the extensive Music in American Life Series."—Booklist
"A well-researched and rapidly consumed book."—AllAboutJazz.com

"As comprehensive and appreciative as any of the past Parker literature."—The Santa Fe New Mexican


|Chuck Haddix is the director of the Marr Sound Archives of the University of Missouri–Kansas City Libraries. He is the coauthor of Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop—A History and the producer and host of KCUR-FM's ""The Fish Fry,"" a popular radio program featuring the finest in blues, soul, rhythm & blues, jumpin' jive, and zydeco. He also teaches jazz history at the Kansas City Art Institute.
Expand title description text
Series: Music in American Life Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Kindle Book

  • Release date: October 3, 2013

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780252095177
  • Release date: October 3, 2013

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780252095177
  • File size: 2047 KB
  • Release date: October 3, 2013
Loading
Loading

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Biography & Autobiography Music Nonfiction

Languages

English

Saxophone virtuoso Charlie "Bird" Parker began playing professionally in his early teens, became a heroin addict at 16, changed the course of music, and then died when only 34 years old. His friend Robert Reisner observed, "Parker, in the brief span of his life, crowded more living into it than any other human being." Like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, he was a transitional composer and improviser who ushered in a new era of jazz by pioneering bebop and influenced subsequent generations of musicians. Meticulously researched and written, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker tells the story of his life, music, and career. This new biography artfully weaves together firsthand accounts from those who knew him with new information about his life and career to create a compelling narrative portrait of a tragic genius. While other books about Parker have focused primarily on his music and recordings, this portrait reveals the troubled man behind the music, illustrating how his addictions and struggles with mental health affected his life and career. He was alternatively generous and miserly; a loving husband and father at home but an incorrigible philanderer on the road; and a chronic addict who lectured younger musicians about the dangers of drugs. Above all he was a musician, who overcame humiliation, disappointment, and a life-threatening car wreck to take wing as Bird, a brilliant improviser and composer. With in-depth research into previously overlooked sources and illustrated with several never-before-seen images, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker corrects much of the misinformation and myth about one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century.
| Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Kansas City Blues 2. Buster's Tune 3. Hootie Blues 4. Bebop 5. Relaxing at Camarillo 6. Dewey Square 7. Parker's Mood Notes Sources Index | "Impressive detail, a notable addition to the extensive Music in American Life Series."—Booklist
"A well-researched and rapidly consumed book."—AllAboutJazz.com

"As comprehensive and appreciative as any of the past Parker literature."—The Santa Fe New Mexican


|Chuck Haddix is the director of the Marr Sound Archives of the University of Missouri–Kansas City Libraries. He is the coauthor of Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop—A History and the producer and host of KCUR-FM's ""The Fish Fry,"" a popular radio program featuring the finest in blues, soul, rhythm & blues, jumpin' jive, and zydeco. He also teaches jazz history at the Kansas City Art Institute.
Expand title description text
Biography & Autobiography Music Nonfiction