Charlie "Yardbird" Parker was one of the known founders of bebop. Revolutionizing the way improvisation was performed, this saxophonist connected the chords rather than the melody with his jazz ensembles.Born in Kansas City, KS, Parker moved with his family to Kansas City, MO, where he first played the baritone horn with the school band. After playing with local bands until 1935, he left school to pursue music. Visiting New York in 1939, he honed his craft, working alongside fellow professional musicians in jam sessions.In 1938 he joined Jay McShann's Orchestra and toured throughout Chicago and New York. Returning to Kansas City, he joined Harlan Leonard's Rockets, and recorded with McShann's Orchestra in 1940. At that point he was leading the reed section, and found that he performed exceptionally well during solos in several recordings, including "Hootie Blues," "Sepain Bouncing" and "Confessing the Blues." Catching the attention of Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk while performing in jam sessions at Monroe's and Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, he left McShann and joined Earl Hines.1945 proved to be a successful year for the "Bird." He led his own group in New York and began collaborating with Gillespie. The duo went on a six-week Hollywood nightclub tour, Parker staying in Los Angeles until 1946, where he suffered a mental breakdown, leading to a six-month confinement at Camarillo State Hospital. A heroin addict for years, Parker's mental breakdown was due to the lack of drugs found in California, and his excessive replacement of those drugs with alcohol. Returning to New York in 1947, he formed a quintet that included Miles Davis, Duke Jordan, Tommy Potter and Max Roach. Their recordings were Parker's most memorable, as he visited Europe in 1949 and 1950, eventually switching labels to record with strings. Becoming unreliable and suicidal (facing death twice), he died in March 1955 at the age of 34.
