Tag Archives: Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker

Stanley Crouch Finally Delivers His Charlie Parker Bio

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Poet and culture critic Stanley Crouch has been working on a book about legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker for 32 years. Now volume one, “Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker,” is being published next week by HarperCollins. The first volume covers Parker’s early years — 1920 to 1940. New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff talks to Crouch about the book here.