Injured as a teenager in an automobile accident, Parker seemed troubled for the remainder of his life. Clips of Parker s performances show what appears to be a totally emotionless person, playing rapid, beautiful solos. Parker s sometime partner, Dizzy Gillespie, would spread the gospel of bop, kindly sharing technique and musical theory with young players. Many older players like Armstrong thought bop was nonsense, and the swing audience surely couldn t dance to it. But by the time Parker had died in 1955, jazz had entered the modern era with a completely new sheen.
Jazz continually relates issues of race both heartening and harrowing.
While performing in a Southern local, one of her musicians informed her that several members of the Klan were descending upon the tent show. Smith, no pushover, stormed out to meet them shaking her fist. I ll get the whole damned tent out here. Other stories prove more disturbing. While performing in a downtown club, Miles Davis decided to go outside during a break.