Parker composed at the last minute, usually because he needed material for recording dates. In particular, there is one instance of Parker revising a work already completed (“Ornithology”), one instance of Parker combining two pieces by another composer into one of his own (“My Little Suede Shoes”), and two instances of Parker composing in the studio where we can hear his revisions immediately (“Red Cross” and “Blues (Fast)”). (2) This article explores what we can infer about Parker’s compositional process from those instances where he made revisions to improve or (in one case) create the final product. (1) Yet, despite the importance of his contribution, Parker’s approach to composition was casual, and as a result there seem to be no extant working manuscripts that might suggest how Parker composed his pieces. Performed widely, they are considered seminal within the jazz repertory. Parker ranks as one of the most important jazz composers of his era by virtue of the quality and continuing popularity of his best-known tunes. Charlie Parker (1920–1955) has long been admired as an improviser, but as brilliant as his solo skills were, Parker was also a significant jazz composer, an aspect of his musicianship that has not been sufficiently investigated and appreciated. I conclude with observations on Parker’s procedures, proposing refinements to ontological models of musical works to account for jazz compositions.Ĭopyright © 2018 Society for Music Theory Parker’s methods sometimes differ from traditional composition and suggest that we reconsider the usual distinction between improvisation and composition. The middle part of the paper explores Parker in these creative settings. The article continues by exploring what we can infer about Parker’s compositional processes from those instances where he made revisions to improve or create the final product. We do possess occasional single parts for trumpet or alto saxophone of pieces written for recording sessions and four Library of Congress lead sheets copied in his hand, and, as an introduction, I show examples of such manuscripts. Because he left no working manuscripts, we cannot examine his compositions evolving on paper. Parker’s compositions offer insight into his total musicianship as well as provide a summary of early bebop style. KEYWORDS: Charlie Parker, jazz, jazz composition, bebop, jazz analysis, “Ornithology,” “Blues (Fast),” “Red Cross,” “My Little Suede Shoes”ĪBSTRACT: Charlie Parker has been much appreciated as an improviser, but he was also an important jazz composer, a topic yet to be studied in depth.
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