EARLY BIRD: THE LIFE, CAREER, AND RECORDINGS OF CHARLIE PARKER IN KANSAS CITY by Chuck Haddix

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections presents the following program from its 2013 ARSC Annual Conference at Marriott Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, Missouri on Thursday May 16, 2013:
EARLY BIRD: THE LIFE, CAREER, AND RECORDINGS OF CHARLIE PARKER IN KANSAS CITY
presented by Chuck Haddix, Marr Sound Archives, UMKC
In the fall of 2013, the University of Illinois Press will publish my biography of Charlie “Bird” Parker, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker. A transitional figure in music, Parker, along with Dizzy Gillespie, created bebop, a revolution in jazz. A heroin addict and alcoholic, who died at the age of 34, Parker spent his first twenty years in Kansas City, where he came of age musically.
This new biography of composer/alto saxophonist Parker includes a wealth of new information about his, life, career and recording sessions in Kansas City.
This presentation will include previously unknown photos and recordings of Parker, focusing on four key recording sessions by Parker: the Honey Suckle Rose/Body and Soul sessions from 1938, the Wichita Sessions recorded Thanksgiving weekend 1940 and a previously unknown recording of Parker with the Jay McShann band in Feb. 1941, and the Damon sessions from 1943. Collectively, these sessions illustrate the emerging genius of Charlie “Bird” Parker, one of the most influential musicians of all time.
Videographers: Michael and Leah Biel
Editor: Nathan Georgitis