{"product_id":"bird-the-life-and-music-of-charlie-parker-music-in-american-life-9780252037917","title":"Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker (Music in American Life)","description":"\u003cp\u003eSaxophone virtuoso Charlie \"Bird\" Parker began playing professionally in his early teens  became a heroin addict at 16  changed the course of music  and then died when only 34 years old. His friend Robert Reisner observed  \"Parker  in the brief span of his life  crowded more living into it than any other human being.\" Like Louis Armstrong  Duke Ellington  Miles Davis  and John Coltrane  he was a transitional composer and improviser who ushered in a new era of jazz by pioneering bebop and influenced subsequent generations of musicians.  Meticulously researched and written  Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker tells the story of his life  music  and career. This new biography artfully weaves together firsthand accounts from those who knew him with new information about his life and career to create a compelling narrative portrait of a tragic genius.  While other books about Parker have focused primarily on his music and recordings  this portrait reveals the troubled man behind the music  illustrating how his addictions and struggles with mental health affected his life and career. He was alternatively generous and miserly; a loving husband and father at home but an incorrigible philanderer on the road; and a chronic addict who lectured younger musicians about the dangers of drugs. Above all he was a musician  who overcame humiliation  disappointment  and a life-threatening car wreck to take wing as Bird  a brilliant improviser and composer.  With in-depth research into previously overlooked sources and illustrated with several never-before-seen images  Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker corrects much of the misinformation and myth about one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45279796756533,"sku":"ByrdShop_025203791X","price":28.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780252037917.jpg?v=1780610749","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/bird-the-life-and-music-of-charlie-parker-music-in-american-life-9780252037917","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}