Charlie Parker

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At 50, Kind of Blue Still Totally Awesome

(Newser) - In 1959, Miles Davis was looking to forge a path away from the bebop spearheaded by mentor Charlie Parker, Fred Kaplan writes on Slate. “Parker not only invented bebop, he perfected it,” Kaplan continues, leaving Davis nowhere else to go. So when Davis was introduced to so-called “...

1959: The Apex of Jazz
 1959: The Apex of Jazz 
OPINION

1959: The Apex of Jazz

(Newser) - 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of jazz’s best year jazz ever, Martin Johnson writes for the Root. 1959 saw canonical discs from genre royalty: “Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come, Dave Brubeck’s Time Out...

Bird Lives! And He Does It in Fanatic Detail

NY radio jock keeps jazz boppin', stumps die-hard know-it-alls

(Newser) - A white guy from Queens may be our best link to a music rooted in black history. Phil Schapp grew up in a home full of jazz, and has hosted a radio show obsessed with the music's minutiae for decades, the New Yorker reports. He's liable to digress on Charlie...

Oscar Peterson Dies at 82
Oscar Peterson Dies at 82

Oscar Peterson Dies at 82

Jazz virtuoso known for quickness at the keyboard

(Newser) - Legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson died last night at his home near Toronto from kidney failure, CBC News reports. He was 82. The Canadian musician made hundreds of recordings, won seven Grammys, and played alongside greats like Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and Ella Fitzgerald. "The world has lost the...

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