In 1951, jazz icon Charlie Parker jammed on his saxophone at a party at Kansas City’s Eastside, in the home of his friend Phil Baxter. Most of these casual jam sessions are lost to history, but that night, a friend of Baxter’s brought a wire recorder to the party to capture  Parker and others playing. More than 70 years later, those recordings are public for the first time. 

“Bird in Kansas City: Charlie Parker” is a brand-new album featuring rarely heard recordings of internationally known Parker playing in his hometown of Kansas City. Two recordings, the Baxter wire recording and a disc recording made by band manager John Tumino, come from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Marr Sound Archives. The Marr Sound Archives, located in Miller Nichols Library, house more than 400,000 audio and audiovisual recordings. The archives focus on capturing the American experience in music, radio programs, speeches and interviews.

The music on “Bird in Kansas City” was originally recorded in 1941-1951, beginning when Parker was just 21 years old.

“These recordings chronicle Parker’s musical transformation from a budding soloist with the Jay McShann Band into a brilliant improviser who dominated after-hours jam sessions,” said Chuck Haddix, curator of the Marr Sound Archives and Charlie Parker expert.

Haddix is also the author of “Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker.” He worked with jazz collector Norman Saks and Ken Drucker, senior vice president at Verve Label Group, to create the album. Haddix co-produced and wrote the liner notes for the record.

Haddix and the Marr Sound Archives aren’t the only UMKC connection to the Parker album. In the fall of 1938, Parker, as part of the Jay McShann Band, played a series of gigs at the Kangaroo, a malt shop and “jelly joint” at 300 E. 51st Street co-owned by a University of Kansas City (now UMKC) alumnus and a senior at the university. A photo of Parker playing his alto saxophone at the Kangaroo was featured in the 1939 UMKC yearbook and became the only known photo of Parker playing his alto in Kansas City. Thanks to the UMKC University Archives, that photo is featured on the cover of “Bird in Kansas City.”

“While flipping through the yearbook, LaBudde Special Collections Curator Stuart Hinds came across the photo of Charlie Parker playing his saxophone for UKC students at the Kangaroo malt shop,” Haddix said. “We couldn’t believe a photo like this was in the yearbook, especially to be the only known photo of its kind. It’s just an important snapshot of Kansas City history.”

The UMKC Miller Nichols Library is hosting a “Bird in Kansas City” reception and listening event on Nov. 16. The reception will feature guest performer Bobby Watson and the exhibit “Saxophone Supreme: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker.” Haddix will play excerpts from the album and talk about Parker’s time in Kansas City and the stories surrounding the making of the recordings. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP here.

“Bird in Kansas City” is available now from Verve Records.