Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker, nicknamed “Yardbird” or “Bird” for short was easily one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. Born in Kansas City, Kansas on August 29, 1920, he came up in the vital jazz scene of Kansas City, Missouri. Initially heavily influenced by the playing of saxophonist Lester Young, he developed a prodigious saxophone technique and his own unique harmonic and melodic language, heavily rooted in the blues tradition, and together with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie is credited with creating the style of jazz later referred to as bebop. Bassist Charles Mingus famously commented that so many musicians copied Bird’s innovations that they’d all be guilty of copyright violations in a just world!