Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Z2 Comics plans to publish the graphic novel Chasin’ The Bird: Charlie Parker in California on Sept. 8.
The all-too-brief life of saxophonist Charlie Parker redirected the world, musically. And to mark his centennial this year, Bird is being enshrined in the graphic novel Chasin’ The Bird: Charlie Parker in California—which counts as the first time the saxophonist has been rendered in such a fashion.
Set for release Sept. 8, the book details Parker’s time on the West Coast, beginning in December 1945. Drawn by Dave Chisholm and colored by DreamWorks Animation Director Peter Markowski, Chasin’ The Bird chronicles a formative moment for the saxophonist: He had already cut some sides, including work with pianist Jay McShann. Savoy had released the “Billie’s Bounce/Now’s The Time” 10-inch, which included trumpeter Miles Davis. But Parker’s stint in L.A. would yield definitive tunes like “Orinthology” and “Yardbird Suite,” issued separately in 1946 on the Dial label.
“Charlie Parker is one of the most well-known figures in jazz, and to publish a chapter of his tragically short life story in comics is an honor,” Z2 Comics Publisher Josh Frankel said in a press release. “Jazz has always been a perfect complement to comic books, and certainly an inspiration to some of our greats as well. Robert Crumb would be proud.”
Saxophonist Wayne Shorter included a graphic novel as an integral part of his 2018 Blue Note album, Emanon, and Fantagraphics Books published French cartoonist Blutch’s Total Jazz that same year.
Two versions of Chasin’ The Bird will be available: The standard hardcover edition will include a flexi-disc, and the deluxe edition will be packaged with a limited-edition 45-RPM single and three art prints. DB
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
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