Chasin' the Bird - The Life & Legacy of Charlie Parker

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But behind the brilliance, there is a darker side to Parkers life that would hamper his career and ultimately cost him his life. After reaching his peak of creativity in the late 1940s, his extreme indulgence in destructive habits, including drug addiction and excessive drinking, got him entangled with the law and caught up in fleeting relationships. " title="Chasin the Bird - The Life & Legacy of Charlie Parker">Anyone with a passing interest in Jazz knows that Charlie “YardBird” Parker is one of the most influential musicians of the genre. As a saxophonist who played with blinding speed and displayed a brilliant improvisational style, he founded the bebop style of jazz along with fellow contemporaries Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell. Parker would also come to have a profound influence on later legends Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman.
But behind the brilliance, there is a darker side to Parker's life that would hamper his career and ultimately cost him his life. After reaching his peak of creativity in the late 1940s, his extreme indulgence in destructive habits, including drug addiction and excessive drinking, got him entangled with the law and caught up in fleeting relationships.

Accordingly, Brian Priestley's Chasin' the Bird presents us with the full spectrum of Parker's life and legacy. Priestley, who is a leading commentator on jazz, expands and revises his previous short biography, Charlie Parker, which was published in 1984. Using new testimony, Priestley leaves no stone unturned in delineating The Bird's life and career from his hometown of Kansas City, where he became enamored with its rich music scene, to his humble beginnings in New York City, to his eventual collaborations with fellow legend Dizzy Gillespie that would startle the jazz world, evolve the genre, and solidify his iconic status in the pantheon of Jazz history.

As with any good biography, Chasin' the Bird also sheds light on the reasons behind Parker's dark side. A heroin addict since he was a teenager, his addiction became aggravated by the racism endemic in America's post-war society. When there was a lack of drugs, he would turn to exorbitant drinking. And although he reached his peak form while indulging these detrimental cravings, his abuses quickly caught up with him and he died at the age of 34.

Regardless, Parker is among a handful of musicians who can be said to have permanently changed jazz, and The Bird is arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time. Chasin' the Bird covers this legend from both biographical and musicological viewpoints and includes a complete discography of Parker's work, making Chasin' the Bird invaluable for old and new fans alike.

Brian Priestley is the author of biographies of Charles Mingus and John Coltrane and co-wrote The Rough Guide of Jazz. He is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio3 and a critic and reviewer for numerous magazines, including Jazzwise.

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