Charlie Parker

Charles Christopher "Bird" Parker, Jr (29th August 1920 – 12th March 1955) was a U.S. bebop saxophonist and composer. Early in his career Parker was dubbed Yardbird; this was later shortened to "Bird" (or sometimes "Yard") and remained Parker's nickname for the rest of his life, and inspiration for the titles of his works such as "Ornithology and Yardbird suite".

Parker is commonly considered the greatest bebop jazz musician. In terms of influence and impact, his contribution to jazz was so great that Charles Mingus commented that if Bird were alive today, he would think he was living in a hall of mirrors. Bird's talent is compared almost without argument to such legendary musicians as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and his reputation and legend as one of the best saxophonists is such that some critics say he was unsurpassed.