African American Art and Culture: The art music of Charlie Parker

     Bebop started at Minton`s Playhouse by black musicians, and Charlie Parker was the spirit of the bebop movement. Known as the black jazz capital, Minton`s Playhouse in Harlem is where bebop began. The jazz scene was taking place at Minton`s Playhouse in Harlem, and on 52nd Street ( aka The Street ). Minton`s Playhouse was a laboratory for bebop, where great musicians like Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker would play. The Kings of Minton`s never played "ordinary music"; they played bebop to eliminate players who couldn`t play.

     Once bebop developed it began moving to other clubs on 52nd Street. Around 1945, black musicians were playing on 52nd Street for the money, and for media exposure at clubs such as the Three Deuces, Kelly`s Stable, and other clubs on 52nd Street. These clubs on 52nd Street were becoming more important to musicians than the clubs in Harlem.

     Charlie Parker was a virtuoso, and an important figure to other musicians who were looking to Charlie Parker for direction. With his strong, bright, and individual sound, Bird was also one of the great blues and ballad players. Charlie Parker composed  bebop masterpieces including Ko-Ko, Cherokee, My Old Flame, Billie`s Bounce, Embraceable You, Parker`s Mood, Lover Man, Yardbird Suite, and many others.

     Jazz is black music, and bebop was about change and evolution. Bebop was not about being safe and standing still. Bebop is one of the most enduring styles of music from the United States, and an American underground art and culture that was played after-hours, fast and aggressively, and aesthetically shocking. Bebop was self-defining black culture, and bebop lines were fractured with passing tones, and was difficult to count and play.

     As for Charlie Parker he was on a decline by 1954. According to Miles Davis, Charlie Parker had become fat, tired, not showing for performances, and playing badly. He was even banded from Birdland ( the legendary club named in his honor ) after an argument with the owners. Charlie Parker died March 12, 1955, but his music continues.