page_title: Leo Parker
hierarchical_section_title: Leo Parker
caption_attribution_description: Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Illinois Jacquet, New York, N.Y., ca. May 1947] 1 negative&#160;: b&amp;w&#160;; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 153 Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). Subjects: Parker, Leo Jazz musicians--1940-1950. Saxophonists--1940-1950. Trumpet players--1940-1950. Format: Portrait photographs--1940-1950. Group portraits--1940-1950. Film negatives--1940-1950. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints &amp; Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.12601 Call Number: LC-GLB23- 1260 This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress. Rights and restrictions.In accordance with the wishes of William Gottlieb, the photographs in this collection entered into the public domain on February 16, 2010.
context_page_description: Leo Parker was an American jazz musician who played baritone saxophone.
  Born in Washington, D.C, Parker studied alto saxophone in high school, and played this instrument on a recording with Coleman Hawkins in 1944. He switched to baritone saxophone later that year when he joined Billy Eckstine's bebop band, playing there until 1946. In 1945 he was a member of the so-called "Unholy Four" of saxophonists, with Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons. He played on 52nd Street in New York with Dizzy Gillespie in 1946 and Illinois Jacquet in 1947-48, and later recorded with Fats Navarro, J.J. Johnson, Teddy Edwards, Wardell Gray and Charles Thompson. He and Thompson had a hit with their Apollo Records release, "Mad Lad".
  In the 1950s, Parker had problems with drug abuse, which interfered with his recording career. He made two comeback records for Blue Note in 1961, but the following year he died of a heart attack in New York CIty. He was 36.
  On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Leo Parker among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
context_section_description: Leo Parker (April 18, 1925 - February 11, 1962) was an American jazz musician who played baritone saxophone.
  Born in Washington, D.C, Parker studied alto saxophone in high school, and played this instrument on a recording with Coleman Hawkins in 1944. He switched to baritone saxophone later that year when he joined Billy Eckstine's bebop band, playing there until 1946. In 1945 he was a member of the so-called "Unholy Four" of saxophonists, with Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons. He played on 52nd Street in New York with Dizzy Gillespie in 1946 and Illinois Jacquet in 1947-48, and later recorded with Fats Navarro, J.J. Johnson, Teddy Edwards, Wardell Gray and Charles Thompson. He and Thompson had a hit with their Apollo Records release, "Mad Lad".
  In the 1950s, Parker had problems with drug abuse, which interfered with his recording career. He made two comeback records for Blue Note in 1961, but the following year he died of a heart attack in New York CIty. He was 36.
  On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Leo Parker among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
caption: Leo Parker, New York, May 1947
exif: {}