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| Kansas City Celebrates Charlie Parker's 100th Birthday During the month of August, 2020 Kansas City celebrates the 100th birthday of Charlie "Bird" Parker; one of its most influential legends. Through a series of both Performance and Educational events known as "Spotlight: Charlie Parker" (S:CP) The City will honor Parker's legacy and impact on jazz around the world. As a sign of the times, face masks, social distancing and more are required per local City ordinance(s). Starting with the live jazz performance "Venue Showcase" events; venues include Polsky Theater at Johnson County Community College, 424 Lounge, KC Bier Co, The Phoenix, The Reserve at the Ambassador Hotel and more. These will take place across Kansas City Metro throughout the month of August. A full schedule can be found online. (https://spotlightcharlieparker.org/event-schedule/) On August 22nd, Chris Burnett will lead the Bird Boot Camp (https://birdbootcamp.org/) at the American Jazz Museum and GEM Theater with notable other jazz educators in Kansas City. The boot camp is an applied jazz education experience that immerses participants into the theory and practice of jazz music on several levels: Performance, Compositional Theory and Improvisation. Following the boot camp, students will move outside in the Jazz District to perform a "sax salute" to Charlie Parker. Strict social distancing measures are being taken for students who participate, and audience members are required to wear a face mask during the "sax salute". On the eve of Charlie Parker's birthday, August 28th, Glenn North with Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center will host a Spoken Word Tribute to Bird. Special guest and award winning poet, Yusef Komunyakaa, will deliver a reading to celebrate Charlie Parker. (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/yusef-komunyakaa) August 29th is Bird's 100th birthday and will feature several special events. The public is invited to attend a UNESCO sponsored "Sunrise Ceremony" at 6:15am to enjoy African drumming as the sun rises on Charlie Parker's birthday. Music will be led by the Traditional Music Society, Bird Ellington Fleming. Following the ceremony, a walking tour of 18th & Vine will begin at 9:30am titled "Early Bird: Charlie Parker Centennial." To minimize the number of people gathered together, the tour will have two start times. The first tour will run from 9:30am – 10:30am and the second tour will begin at 10:30am and end at 11:30am. Each tour is limited to 26 people. Join tour guides Chuck Haddix and Jacob Wagner from UMKC on a walking tour of the Jazz District to learn more about the historical context in which Charlie Parker developed as a young musician. A new partner to S:CP for 2020 is Kansas City's PBS station: KCPT. Chris Lester and his team have been busy filming "Bird: Not Out of Nowhere." As the world celebrates the centennial of Charlie "Bird" Parker's birth, this film looks back at the twenty-one years Charlie spent at home in Kansas City and on his long-lasting impression on Kansas City Jazz. Based on the book by Chuck Haddix, this documentary will air on KCPT August 29 at 7pm as well as August 31st at 2am for late night and international viewers. To cap the 100th Birthday of Bird, the Kansas City Museum, as part of their "Museum Sessions" will stream a live jazz performance featuring Kansas City Jazz musicians in a special tribute to Charlie Parker. This event is supported by UNESCO Creative City Kansas City – City of Music. For local and international jazz fans, tune into KCUR 89.3 online at 12am CST on August 30th for a previously recorded 12th Street Jump show featuring Bobby Watson write your comments about the article :: © 2020 Jazz News :: home page |