In the words of a correspondent, these jazz greats “represent the triumph of individual talent, creativity and perseverance.” This is true of Bird and most jazz artists who “woodshed” intensively to develop their skills. Bird would play 15 hours a day, and he worked at least 4 years practising. He described his playing as always trying to find the pretty notes. He kept hearing the music that he wanted to play in his head and eventually got it through his alto saxophone. Bird is one of the definite creators of bebop along with Dizzy Gillespie. A number of other artists … Continue reading Jazz Birthday: Charlie Parker (1920)