HAIL CHARLIE PARKER! 

Hail Charlie Parker
Patron saint of the night
Peerless prince
Of Logic and Light

Came to New York
Shook ’em on down
Three Deuces, Minton’s
And Harlem uptown

Invented the future
With a fearless art
Braving new worlds
Pulling old worlds apart 

The club was full of smoke
You could smell the perfume
Narco men lurking
At the back of the room      

But from Carnegie Hall
To gutbucket bars
Charlie carved a path
Through the dark to the stars

Melancholy Baby
How High The Moon
Autumn Leaves on
Charlie Parker’s tomb 

He came from Kansas City
Where something in the air
Made ‘em swing harder
Than most anywhere

He sensed the unseen
Embraced the unknown  
And transcribed the night
On alto saxophone

In a cascading chorus
Of joy and pain
The night burned bright
In Charlie Parker’s brain 

Like Einstein
And Giacometti
When greatness called
Charlie Parker was ready

He threw down with wit
And razorblade style
Made it all up
With Dizzy, Max and Miles

Can a sound change the world?
It certainly can
That’s Yardbird Parker
Up on the bandstand