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Tribute to Charlie Parker in KC KC must never forget its HOMETOWN genius ON SAX AS I SEE IT
by Sonny Gibson for the Kansas City Star To honor and celebrate the genius of alto saxophonist Charlie “Yardbird” Parker is to reflect on the revolutionary change that he introduced to the world of jazz. Parker, who was born Aug. 29, 1920, in Kansas City, Kan., is acknowledged as one of the 20th century’s musical geniuses. His repertoire is the foundation for much of modern jazz. He was a genius alongside other great men such as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Albert Einstein, who discovered that space and time are relative to a point of reference and not absolute concepts. Parker was a devout admirer of Paul Hindemith, the German neoclassicist. Hindemith’s influence can be found in the complex harmonic structures that Bird improvised in chord progressions in blues and standard tunes. Parker’s moods, music, virtuosity, intellectual depth and philharmonic consciousness are manifested in two orchestral compositions, “Temptation” and “Autumn in New York.” In these, he augmented the sounds of jazz with string instruments. Hearing them allows the jazz aficionado to garner an insight into Parker’s musical ingenuity. Bird had an aggressive urge to widen the improvisational boundaries of jazz. In New York in 1939, while playing the tune “Cherokee,” he introduced while soloing a polyphonic phrasing by using the higher intervals of a chord as a melody line and backing them with appropriately related changes. He began to play what he had been hearing in his mind all of his life. This discovery became a new process in the revolution of jazz and defined the mystery of improvisation and gave birth to the genius of Charlie Parker. This newfound genius of Bird imbued a new sense of jazz in the minds of every jazz musician in the world. But does Kansas City remember? As jazz began to slide into oblivion in Kansas City in the early ’60s, the memories of many great jazz musicians — such as the professor, Buster Smith — also slipped away without a trace. Eddie Baker tried to keep Parker’s legacy alive. He organized and founded the Charlie Parker Foundation and Academy of the Arts, which provided for musical education for youth of the Kansas City area. But since Baker’s death, that opportunity has been lost. Bird was a revolutionary jazz spirit with a powerful and enthusiastic mind. He was in love with the beauty of music. Fifty-one years after his death, we remember his legacy. ----- Commemorative jazz session • A jazz session in Charlie Parker’s honor will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, 3700 Blue Parkway in Kansas City. The session coincides with the opening of a photo exhibit of Parker from birth to his death. ----- Sonny Gibson is a consultant, author and lecturer who lives in Kansas City. ----- © 2006 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansascity.com  "Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive."
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