Charlie Parkers Role on the Development of Jazz

Dan Brown

Charlie Parker, born in Kansas City on the 29th of August 1920, along with other pioneers like Bud
Powell and Thelonious Monk, spearheaded a movement in jazz known as bebop that came to
fruition during the 1940s. Bebop (getting its namesake from the scat syllables used in vocal
improvisation), followed the swing era, its aims however were far different. Unlike the increasing
number of big band and jazz orchestra arrangers, whose music was composed for commercial
reasons, bebop was art music and such, musicians whom were part of its development, strove to be
innovative. In this essay I will highlight ways in which Charlie Parker (AKA Bird as he was more
well-known) helped to create this new style of jazz which was arguably the birth of modern music.
As opposed to big band music which was heavily arranged, bebop was rooted in improvisation and
such compositions feature a simple structure; usually comprising of a large solo section sandwiched
between two heads. Melodies, both written and improvised, drew more heavily upon the underlying
harmony a tune and often utilised upper chord extensions (such as the 9th, 11th and the 13th), and
an increased amount of chromatic passing tones allowing chord tones to fall upon the down beats of
a bar (thus implying the harmonic structure of a piece). In an interview, Bird talks about his discovery
of upper chord extensions when playing on a popular standard of his entitled Cherokee in Clark
Monroes Uptown House in New York, he said that by using the higher intervals of a chord as a
melody line and backing them with appropriately related changes *he+ could play the thing *hed+
been hearing. It came alive. Over dominant 7th chords Bird was one of the first to start using both
the diminished (a symmetrical scale comprising of alternating half and whole steps) and altered (the
7th mode of the jazz melodic minor) scales; he loved the sound of the flattened 9th and played it
often in his solos. Up until this point only basic chord tones were used in improv, with the
compositions melody being the main guiding factor.
As well as inventing the melodic language of bebop, Bird was also responsible for composing a large
proportion of its early repertoire. When writing tunes, existing chord structures, taken from popular
tunes of the swing era, were often copped and extensively reharmonised. Donna Lee one of Birds
most well-known tunes for example, takes the chord structure from the standard, Indiana. Parker
however, creates interest by preceding V7 chords with II7 chords. Another reharmonisation
technique he pioneered was tritone substitution, in which he replaced dominant chords with
another a tritone away. Amongst other things this helped to provide a chromatic root movement
over a II-V7-1 progression. Other notable compositions of his include Confirmation and Moose
the Mooche (the latter is a composition over the changes of Ive got rhythm, a structure popular
with bop musicians).
Bird was also careful when choosing the other members in his band, picking only those who had a
similar degree of facility on their respective instruments as him. Al Haig and Bud Powell were
amongst Birds pianists of choice. As a pianist it was their role to set up a tune with a small intro
(Haigs intro on Confirmation is a good example), and to supply the underlying harmony of the
tune for Bird to improvise over the top of. Voicings were usually simple; utilizing stripped back 2 or 3
note rooted shells in the left hand with a select number of extensions being played in the right. This
was so as not to get in the way of the soloist. Also unlike the typical comping style of Earl Hines (as
part of the Armstrong band) which was limited to crotchets, these bop pianists used quaver
anticipation to give a forward momentum to the music.
With exception of the creole jazz bands that emerged in the early 20th century, Parker was one of
the first to incorporate elements of classical music in his playing. He was fascinated with the
harmonic language of Bach and was rumoured to have had a copy of Stravinskys Firebird Suite on
his person at all times; a claim that became evident when he quoted the main motif of the suite in-
front of none other than Stravinsky himself at Birdland in 1951. He was also known to quote from
other famous works such Bizets Carmen.
To conclude, Parkers role on the development on jazz is one of the greatest in the musics history.
Everyone that has followed him credits him as an influence. Two notable examples are John Coltrane
and Miles Davis; despite being more associated with the later styles of modal and free jazz, both had
beginnings rooted in bebop (Davis briefly played in the Parker band in 1945). His influence is also still
seen today with contemporary artists like Django Bates, keeping his compositions alive by artfully
reworking them into complex metres and arranging them for unusual ensembles. Bird lives on.