In exactly 1 month (August 29, 2020) Charlie Parker will be one century old. The music historians of the future might well call this era "the Yardbird Years" or even "the Parker Century".
| Graffitti like these have been appearing all over the world since 1955 |
This blog, open to public participation, will celebrate and count down to the date of his 100th birthday with a periodic tribute. Please let us know about your favorite Parker song, or how and where you met him, or what he means to you or any other anecdote or piece of information you want to share.
Let's kick the celebrations off with one of the few films out there of Bird with "the other half of his heartbeat":
Welcome to this Birdblog!
Neoclassical like Bird,
Distrusting the reality
of every note.
Half-real
We blow the sentence pure and real
Like chewing angels.
"Listen, Bird, why do we have to sit here dying
in a half-furnished room?
The rest of the combo
Is safe in houses
Blowing bird-brained Dixieland,
How warm and free they are.
What right
Music."
"Man,
We
Can't stay away from the sounds.
We're crazy, Jack
We gotta stay here 'til
They come and get us."
...
"And are we angels, Bird?"
"That's what we're trying to tell 'em, Jack
There aren't any angels except when
You and me blow'em."
(Jack Spicer Lives)
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