Chasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker

Charlie ""Bird"" Parker achieved nearly mythic status as a difficult person and heroin addict. And while Priestly's book describes Parker's tumultuous personal life and his lifelong struggle with addiction, its focus is on Bird's music. The book contains a thorough investigation of Bird's prodigious musical talent and his contributions to jazz and bebop. Priestly, a jazz pianist and co-author of The Rough Guide to Jazz, cautions readers that ""so much of Parker's sound and style has entered the present-day language as to make the original seem old hat"" before describing what made Bird a legend: his mastery of the alto sax, his brilliant improvisations and the speed with which he played. Priestly asserts that confusion about details of Parker's life ""is a consequence of the fact that, during his brief career, entertainers generally-and especially African-American instrumentalists-were not extensively interviewed."" As a result, the book skimps on personal information and leans on speculation. It also scrutinizes his musical career to such an extent that the book can be tedious to readers with a casual interest in jazz. However, for a student or a serious Parker enthusiast, Priestly's thorough documentation and analysis of Bird's recordings and gigs, along with the 60 pages of included discography, will be quite a find.