Celebrating Jazz Legend Charlie Parker

Fresh Air - A podcast by NPR

Jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker created a totally new sound known as bebop, along with other virtuosos like Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach. To celebrate Parker's 100th birthday, we go to our archives for interviews with musicians who knew him and loved him: Drummer Max Roach, trumpeter Red Rodney, and alto saxophonist Jackie McLean. And our jazz critic Kevin Whitehead kicks things off with a crash course in what made Parker's playing so brilliant.