Charlie "Bird" Parker.

As the nineteenth century drew to a close, so to did the era where the grandeur of classical music prospered as the essential foundation in the world of Western music. Society implored music that boasted simplicity, energy and a modest approach to real life issues, devoid of the glamour and cultural idioms exhibited by former composers, predominantly European. Inevitably, the famed arrival of jazz emerged at the turn of the century from the creative flair …showed first 75 words of 1274 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1274 total…ti recognised Parker as an influential idol is an indication of his widespread influence. Charlie Parker, the biggest contributor in the field of bebop died in 1955 as the ultimate result of heroin overdose. As his drug-ravaged body was lowered into a coffin back home in Kansas City, hysterical fans cried out in voices choked with despair and nostalgia, "Bird lives!" Parker was dead, but his memory was immortal, living on within the world of jazz.