YARDBIRD Backstage Pass

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Charlie Parker’s Yardbird
A Selected Cultural and Historical Timeline
1920s 1930s 1940s
1920 Charlie Parker is born
in Kansas City, Kansas.
1931 Charlie Parker begins
playing saxophone.
1928 Civic Opera House opens
in Chicago.
1937 Parker performs at the Reno Club in Kansas City. His
improvisations make the audience laugh. Drummer Jo Jones
throws a cymbal at Charlie’s feet to tell him to leave the stage.
This becomes a defining moment in his life and a legendary
moment in jazz history.
1942 Parker begins performing with Dizzy Gillespie
1936 Parker marries his high school sweetheart,
Rebecca Ruffin.
Charlie injures his spine and ribs in a severe car
accident. The doctor prescribes heroin for the pain.
1943 Parker briefly marries Geraldine
Scott.
1945 “Greatest jazz session ever,” Parker records for the
Savoy label an album with Gillespie, Miles Davis (trumpet),
Curley Russell (bass), and Max Roach (drums).
1946 Parker committed to the Camarillo State Mental
Hospital for heroin and alcohol rehabilitation.
1948 Charlie marries his third wife, Doris Sydnor.
“Jazz at the Philharmonic” tour, which includes Charlie
Parker, performs at Civic Opera House.
1939 Parker performs regularly at a 55th Street club in
Chicago.
Bebop is born during a jam session with Parker and
William “Biddy” Fleet.
Parker and Fleet play in NYC
1949 Parker records “Charlie Parker with Strings.”