Chasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker

Here's a perfect short critical biography of one of the finest and most influential musicians in America's--and the world's--history. The book offers a few new anecdotes even to readers familiar with the literature, corrects several previous biographical errors, then goes on to give a musicological analysis of Charlie Parker's works and their implications. The latter offers both musical examples as well as reference points of current Parker CDs so even nonreaders of music can understand the point. There is some technical detail that requires musical knowledge, but lay reader can still get through this with an excellent understanding of why many of us still believe "Bird lives"!