Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

27 Inspiring Quotes By Charlie Parker On Jazz, Devotion, Art And More

Famous As: Jazz Saxophonist & Developer of the 'Bebop' Style of Jazz
Born On: August 29, 1920
Died On: March 12, 1955
Born In: Kansas City, Kansas, United States
Died At Age: 34
Charles Parker Junior, popularly known as Charlie Parker, was an American musician who specialised in playing the saxophone and was also an accomplished composer. Parker is perhaps most famous for being a jazz saxophonist and regarded as one of the most influential jazz soloists of his time. On the other hand, Parker is also regarded as the pioneer of bebop, a genre of jazz that is faster in nature and gathered a cult fol-lowing over the years. Parker became famous for his versatility as a singer and saxo-phonist and reached the peak of his art following his move to New York City in 1939. Needless to say, he went on to become one of the leading lights of music in the United States during the 1940s and early 1950s, as bebop became widely popular among Americans of all ages. Some of Parker’s most well-known works include ‘Bird of Paradise’, ‘Ornithology’, ‘Yardbird Suite’ and ‘Bird Gets the Worm’, which went on to become cult classics in their own right. As is the case with most artists, he was quite outspoken and freely expressed his thoughts through his lyrics, music and work. Here is a collection of some memorable quotes and thoughts by Charlie Parker that will give you a glimpse of his musical mind.
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Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you that music has boundaries. But, man, there's no boundary line to art.

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you that music has boundaries. But, man, there's no boundary line to art.

Charlie Parker
Don't be afraid, just play the music.

Don't be afraid, just play the music.

Charlie Parker
Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors - the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people.

Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors - the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people.

Charlie Parker
You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.

You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.

Charlie Parker
Don't play the saxophone. Let it play you.

Don't play the saxophone. Let it play you.

Charlie Parker
What is man without the beasts? For if all the beast were gone, man would die of a great loneliness of the spirit.

What is man without the beasts? For if all the beast were gone, man would die of a great loneliness of the spirit.

Charlie Parker
They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art.

They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art.

Charlie Parker
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Charlie Parker
Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Charlie Parker
All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

Charlie Parker
Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless.

Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless.

Charlie Parker

When the last red man shall have perished from the earth and his memory among the white men shall have become a myth, these shores will swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe. The white man will never be alone. Let him be just and deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not powerless.

Charlie Parker

Youth is impulsive. When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts are black, and that they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them. Thus it has ever been.

Charlie Parker
Day and night cannot dwell together. The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man, as the morning mist flees before the morning sun.

Day and night cannot dwell together. The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man, as the morning mist flees before the morning sun.

Charlie Parker
Our people are ebbing away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return. The white man's God cannot love our people, or He would protect them.

Our people are ebbing away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return. The white man's God cannot love our people, or He would protect them.

Charlie Parker
Whatever Seattle says, the great chief at Washington can rely upon with as much certainty as he can upon the return of the sun or the seasons.

Whatever Seattle says, the great chief at Washington can rely upon with as much certainty as he can upon the return of the sun or the seasons.

Charlie Parker
Humans merely share the earth. We can only protect the land, not own it.

Humans merely share the earth. We can only protect the land, not own it.

Charlie Parker
My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain.

My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain.

Charlie Parker
Don't play the saxophone, let the saxophone play you.

Don't play the saxophone, let the saxophone play you.

Charlie Parker
To us, the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their resting place is hallowed ground.

To us, the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their resting place is hallowed ground.

Charlie Parker
If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.

If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.

Charlie Parker
There is no death, only a change of worlds.

There is no death, only a change of worlds.

Charlie Parker
Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better.

Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better.

Charlie Parker
I realized by using the high notes of the chords as a melodic line, and by the right harmonic progression, I could play what I heard inside me. That's when I was born.

I realized by using the high notes of the chords as a melodic line, and by the right harmonic progression, I could play what I heard inside me. That's when I was born.

Charlie Parker
If you don't live it, it won't come out your horn.

If you don't live it, it won't come out your horn.

Charlie Parker
Hear with your eyes, see with your ears

Hear with your eyes, see with your ears

Charlie Parker
Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.

Charlie Parker