Charlie Parker Jazz Festival
Encyclopedia
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
. Produced by the nonprofit organization City Parks Foundation
City Parks Foundation
City Parks Foundation is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer programs in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York City...
, the longstanding jazz festival takes place every August (in honor of Parker's birth date) in the neighborhoods that Parker both lived and worked -- Marcus Garvey Park
Marcus Garvey Park
Marcus Garvey Park, or Mount Morris Park as it is referred to by the people in the neighborhood, is located in Harlem in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park interrupts the flow of Fifth Avenue, which is routed around the park via Mount Morris Park West. The park is bounded by 120th...
in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
's Historic District and Tompkins Square Park
Tompkins Square Park
Tompkins Square Park is a 10.5 acre public park in the Alphabet City section of the East Village neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is square in shape, and is bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on the...
in the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
.
The festival assembles some of the finest musicians in the world who reflect on Parker's musical individuality and genius. In Spring 2003, City Parks Foundation took over production of the festival when the original organizers announced that they could no longer sustain it. In 2009 the festival entered its 17th season and offered a program featuring luminary jazz musicians Frank Wess
Frank Wess
Frank Wess is an American jazz musician, who has played saxophone and flute.-Biography:...
, Cedar Walton
Cedar Walton
Cedar Anthony Walton, Junior is an American hard bop jazz pianist.-Biography:Walton grew up in Dallas, Texas. His mother was an aspiring concert pianist, and was Walton's initial teacher. She also took him to jazz performances around Dallas...
, Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz is an American alto and soprano saxophonist and clarinetist.Bartz graduated from the Baltimore City College high school and The Juilliard School...
, and Papo Vazquez Pirates Troubadours paired with rising newcomers Jose James, Benny Reid
Benny Reid
Benny Reid is a jazz musician and saxophonist who records for the independent record label Concord Music Group on their Concord Records label. He has released two albums.- Early life :...
, Pyeng Threadgill, and the Dred Scott Trio.
Previous festival performers include Cassandra Wilson, Chico Hamilton, Odean Pope, Bobby Watson, Hiromi, Geri Allen, Robert Glasper, Donald Hariison, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Roy Hanyes, Barry Harris, Vanessa Rubin, Randy Weston, Eric Lewis, Heath Brothers, Arthur Blythe, Wessell Anderson, Jason Moran, Joe Lovano, Earl May, Charles McPherson, David "Fathead" Newman, Cindy Blackman, and several others.
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
has said about the festival that, “few jazz events in the city are as community-minded…[it’s] the jazz scene at its best…a concert for neighborhood audiences and the musicians.”
More information about the festival is available at City Parks Foundation's web site http://www.CityParksFoundation.org