Dave Chisholm’s stellar graphic biography, Chasin’ The Bird: Charlie Parker in California, is a superbly crafted and imaginative record of a legendary two-year period beginning in 1945 during which bebop innovator Charlie Parker traveled to California as part of band organized by his close friend Dizzy Gillespie. Organized around six “choruses,” or chapters based on accounts of episodes in Parker’s life told by close associates, the book offers vivid accounts of his life, his tragic addiction to drugs, and his extraordinary alto saxophone improvisations and timeless bebop compositions, in a masterful celebration of the musical genius who continues to influence Jazz musicians to this day. In this 6-page excerpt the great tenor saxophonist John Coltrane tells the story of the first time he met Parker and the transformative conversation that ensued between two giants of modern Jazz improvisation. Chasin’ The Bird: Charlie Parker in California by Dave Chisholm (with color by Peter Markowski) will be published by Z2 Comics in September.