Jazz Articles

Charlie Parker: The Complete Legendary Rockland Palace Concert

by Tom Storer
February 1, 1997

In the fall of 1952, alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, a cofounder of bebop, was already on the slope of physical decline that led to his death less than two years later. His performances were not always reliable, but he was still capable of superlative playing, as proved by this recording of a concert on September 26 at the Rockland Palace in Harlem. It was a benefit for Benjamin Davis, a Communist and city councilman whose conviction on political charges was ...