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Relaxin' At Camarillo
"Relaxin' at Camarillo" is a composition by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. It is inspired by his six-month stay in Camarillo State Hospital in Ventura County, California, after serving a prison term for arson and resisting arrest. The tune is a blues in C major and has become a jazz standard. Background The title "Relaxin' at Camarillo" was a reference to Parker's stay in Camarillo State Hospital in Ventura County, California, a mental health Patient#Outpatients and inpatients, inpatient facility. He had been sent there to recuperate from alcohol and drug addiction after he was briefly jailed for setting fire to his Los Angeles hotel room bed sheets and running naked through the hotel lobby while intoxicated. According to musicologist and Parker scholar Henry Martin, Parker wanted to call the tune "Past Due", and was not happy with the title assigned by Dial Records that referenced the difficult episode in his life: Recordings After release, Bird was able to record it along wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique, and advanced harmonies. Parker was an extremely brilliant virtuoso and introduced revolutionary rhythmic and harmonic ideas into jazz, including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. Primarily a player of the alto saxophone, Parker's tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber. Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" early in his career on the road with Jay McShann. This, and the shortened form "Bird", continued to be used for the rest of his life, inspiring the titles of a number of Parker compositions, such as "Yardbird Suite", "Ornithology", "Bird Gets the Worm", and "Bird of Paradise". Parker was an icon for the hipster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
