His sensibility pervades jazz on multiple levels. But when Charlie Parker first came up, some luminaries, like Armstrong, didn't get it at all. For one thing, there was Parker's unvarnished sound.

Seventy years ago, Charlie Parker and four other be-bop legends created what many call the greatest jazz concert ever— with Parker playing a plastic saxophone. A reissue of the recording is out.

Charlie Parker’s influence has never waned, and 100 years after his birth, there are many ways to revel in his crucial contributions to jazz. Underwood & Underwood/Corbis, via VCG, via Getty Images ...

Charlie Parker smiles at the Massey Hall concert in 1953. He was joined, from left to right, by pianist Bud Powell, Charles Mingus on bass, drummer Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet.

WHITEHEAD: Charlie Parker with a studio big band in 1952. Despite one famously disastrous recording date and his self-medication with alcohol and heroin, Bird could be amazingly consistent on record.

Charlie Parker. Image: William Gottlieb/Redferns Charlie Parker was born Aug. 29, 1920. On his birthday, we remember the jazz legend with a report that aired on Weekend Edition in August 2000.

On his latest single, “Charlie Parker,” off his forthcoming album Eat The Worm, the multi-instrumentalist channeled the tragic life story of another music legend.

Charlie Parker blazed through American music like a meteor, burning out in his early 30s. Yet the alto saxophonist ranks high in the pantheon of American genius for his artistry, innovations and ...

Parker wanted to record his version of "Cherokee," a popular dance tune by Ray Noble that was a huge hit for Charlie Barnet in 1939. It was recorded that same year by Parker's idol, tenor player ...