Charlie parker

Charlie Parker, thanks to Jonathan Pizzolo

As readers of this blog know, JazzWax is read daily by jazz fans worldwide. For a humble writer like me, it's exhilarating to know that without paper, ink, a printing press, postage, a fulfillment department, marketers or postal workers, I...

Legendary composer and pianist Duke Ellington often sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" as part of his sets, and with good reason: The city by the bay hosted a booming jazz scene in the early 20th century. If you can imagine, it wasn't unheard of to see Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, or Louis...

Charles Parker Jr Colorized by Marina Amaral

Explore Authentic Charlie Parker Stock Photos & Images For Your Project Or Campaign. Less Searching, More Finding With Getty Images.

Charlie Parker

New series of jazz prints, featuring Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.

The sexiest backdrop to be a drug addict: Jazz. A little known fact about our jazz greats from Coltrane in the photo above to Charlie Parker, hard drugs were believed to be the channel of musical greatness. Coltrane struggled with heavy alcohol use along with a heroine addiction. This musical environment was fresh, scandalous, edgy and wild- quite normal for the music industry of today. But this is where that lifestyle derives from. The jazz age laid the foundation of drug use for music.

Charlie Parker Performing at Lindsay's Sky Bar, circa 1952-1953 Photograph of Charlie Parker by Frank Kuchirchuk © 2009 Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio.