The Bird got his nickname (also known as Yardbird ) from his love of chicken.

He ca
me from Kansas City and was a self-taught alto saxophonist who did not realize t
hat many jazz songs of the day were only played in a few keys, so he learned the
m all. Parker quit school at the age of 15 to become a musician. His early days
as a musician were not easy. On one occasion he tried playing Body and Soul in dou
ble-time and was laughed off the stage. Another time, he was playing in a jam se
ssion with the Count Basie Orchestra. They were playing / Got Rhythm and Bird lost
the key and couldn t find it. Basie s drummer, Jo Jones completed his humiliation b
y throwing his cymbal at Bird s feet. Bird continued practicing and got to the poi
nt where he could play Lester Young s solos in double time. Parker then joined Jay
McShann s band and the Billy Eckstine Orchestra, and during this period he finall
y figured out how to play the music he had been hearing in his head. He joined D
izzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, Kenny Clarke and Thelonious Monk at the after
-hours jam sessions at Minton s Uptown House in Harlem, and there Bebop was born.
Parker s style revolutionized jazz and he became the messiah