Join us as we celebrate the life,
the music, and the iconic legacy
of Kansas City’s own:
Charlie “Yardbird” Parker!
Please keep checking back for More Events for 2024! *Artists and Venues subject to change at any time. Please confirm with Venue directly.
Annual Musical Salute to Charlie Parker
Burnett Music Foundation was able to establish a strategic partnership in 2022 with the American Jazz Museum and brings its Bird Boot Camp’s “Musical Salute to Bird” finale to the Charlie Parker Memorial Plaza in the Historic 18th & Vine District. Morgan Faw and Houston Smith will help lead the tribute this year.
The memorial is located directly behind the American Jazz Museum.
The Musical Salute will also act in synergy as a prelude to the AJM’s “In The Yard” concert at 5 pm.
The 2022 musical salute will be led by Artists in Residence, Houston Smith and Morgan Faw who anticipate being joined by jazz great Bobby Watson.
BRING YOUR INSTRUMENT AND PLAY ALONG
All musicians are welcome to participate in this brief performance tribute to Charlie Parker.
The Musical Salute traditionally symbolized the conclusion of Kansas City’s festive “Spotlight: Charlie Parker” week of celebration.
HISTORY OF THE MUSICAL TRIBUTE
The late Eddie Baker conceived a “21 Sax Salute” at Charlie Parker’s gravesite in Lincoln Cemetery where all of the area saxophonists would congregate to pay musical tribute to “Bird.” The tradition was resumed by Ahmad Alaadeen in 2002 up until his passing. The salute was conducted sporadically until the cemetery owner restricted public access to the historic site. Bird Boot Camp took up the “Musical Salute” as part of our programming in 2019 when Burnett Music Foundation took over administration.
CHARLIE PARKER MEMORIAL – BIRD LIVES
Artist/Designer: Robert Graham
Dedicated: March 1999
Description: Large face of Charlie Parker. Green patina on face. Trapezoidal base with brown patina. “Bird Lives” inscription on the base. The face was not cast but was pieced together in a grid-like pattern.
This sculpture memorializes legendary jazz artist Charlie “Bird” Parker. He was a major part of the Kansas City jazz scene and culture. It is located in the middle of a plaza, also named after Parker, in the historic Jazz District and just west of the American Jazz Museum at 18th and Vine Streets.
Inscription:
Charlie “Bird” Parker Plaza
Mayor Emanuel Cleaver II
Board of Parks & Recreation Commissioners: Ollie W. Gates, President; Sheila Kemper Dietrich, Commissioner; Anne Garney, Commissioner; Terry R. Dopson, Director
City Council: Ed Ford, Teresa Loar, Jim Glover, Paul Danaher, Ronald E. Finley, Mary Williams-Neal, Evert Asjes III, Aggie Stackhaus, Ken Bacchus, Kelvin Simmons, George D. Blackwood, Judy Swope.
Robert Graham, Sculptor
In loving memory of Blanche Jones and Doris Jones-Stein. Given by the Jules and Doris Stein Foundation, the Oppenheimer Brothers Foundation, and Tony and Marti Oppenheimer.
History courtesy of KC Parks.
