Charlie “Bird” Parker was one of the wonders of 20th-century music. During his troubled 34 years on earth, he changed the course of jazz history. Yet nothing is simple about the life of this drug-ravaged, volatile genius; even the inspiration for the saxophone maestro’s famous nickname is shrouded in folklore.
Charles Christopher Parker Jr was born on 29 August 1920 in Freeman Avenue, Kansas City. Parker’s upbringing was difficult. His father Charles was a drunken gambler – and a pimp, according to Parker’s third wife – who left the family home when Parker was nine and was subsequently stabbed to death in a fight when his son was still a teenager. Parker did, at least, inherit a love of music and from the age of 12, was hanging out in the alleyways behind the nightclubs lining Kansas’s 12th Street, trying to hear a jam session or catch a glimpse of his saxophone hero Lester Young.
Parker’s life has been thoroughly mythologised, including the time in 1936 when he got his chance to sit in on one of the famous jam sessions with Count Basie’s band at the Reno Club. According to legend, the 16-year-old’s error-ridden solo so infuriated Jo Jones that the drummer hurled a cymbal at Parker.
Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique, and advanced harmonies. Parker was an extremely fast virtuoso and introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas into jazz, including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. Primarily a player of the alto saxophone, Parker’s tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber. He was known for the very clear, sweet and articulate notes he could produce from the saxophone.
reminders:
- 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
- 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes struggle sessions over upbears
- 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
- 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can go here nerd
Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
- 💙Comprehensive list of resources for those in need of an abortion – reddit link
- 💙Resources for Palestine
Theory:
I hope this statement doesn’t age like milk, but I feel like AI couldn’t recreate real emotion and talent the way a human artist could. AI art can be really impressive, but humans create amazing emotion-fuelled art.
But my concern is that the average capitalism-human will not care about that emotion, and, from a material perspective, all of the people who thrive off of expressing that emotion will be in an even worse economic position than before.
if people find self fulfillment they aren’t going to stop doing something they love. and most people aren’t doing particularly unique art rn, so ai being able to imitate it shouldn’t matter too much
Honestly, neither of those things are comforting for me and mean nothing to someone who does art as a job and relies on it to live.
“most people aren’t doing particularly unique art rn”
People shouldn’t need to do “unique” art for their self expression to be valuable. Fuck that.
What artists need right now is material support and material reasons for their job to continue to exist, not abstract notions of “human expression” or “fulfillment”.
Not to sound like a music snob, but look at the good chunk of pop music that’s churned out by corporate music factories. It’s super cliché, soulless, and it’s bought up by the masses - but that doesn’t stop other artists from creating masterpieces of emotion and soul. Real art will never die out, because it’s one of the only ways many people can truly express themselves.
I mean, first, AI generated art is even easier to make then pop songs are, and second, visual arts being brought to the same place as music is still enough to suck. A lot.
Third, it’s hard to tell the difference between AI generated art and human-made art, while pop music is it’s own distinct genre which is separated from other genres in both quality and intention. While AI generated art can come very close to human made art in quality, and it’s only difference in the long term is intention.
I feel like AI couldn’t recreate real emotion and talent the way a human artist could
Yeah, but it’ll be close enough that the soulless corporate ghouls who are already making movies based on what an algorithm spits out won’t care. The treats will be tasteless and bland, but they’ll be the only treats you can get.
