In his brief career, Charlie Parker transformed jazz, spontaneously extending the harmonic and rhythmic range of the music in his fluent improvisations. Only Louis Armstrong and John Coltrane have had as dramatic an influence on other musicians. Broadly considered as one of the greatest saxophonists of all time, he was crucial in the development of the bebop movement. Many of his compositions have become standards including "Billie’s Bounce", "Ornithology" and "Confirmation". Two of his albums, Jazz at Massey Hall and Charlie Parker with Strings, have received the Grammy Hall of Fame award.
His playing was highly acclaimed during his lifetime although his many performances were, from time to time, hampered by his growing addictions – primarily to alcohol and heroin. His prodigious output of albums belies that fact that he died aged only 34, from pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer.
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