Charlie Parker mysteries by John Connolly--seriously?

[Milestones]

Anyone know of this?  An Irish writer named John Connolly has written something like 15 mysteries starring Charlie "Bird" Parker, an ex-cop of the NYPD. Not sure if he is also a brilliant bebop pioneer.  I admit to knowing virtually nothing about these books.  But seriously, Charlie Parker?  What's next?  John Coltrane P.I.?

 

[Scott Dolan]

Fictional characters are sometimes named after the well known. Is it really that controversial? 

Who knows? It may be a conversation starter that leads someone to look into the real Charlie “Bird” Parker. 

[Dan Gould]

Man if Bird had been a cop he could have gotten his junk off the people he busted, no more pawning his (and other people's) sax. That would have been sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JSngry]

The Bop Cop cops.

What I find more amazing is that a former Governor of Texas faked his death so he could move to a foreign country to write detective stories.

I bet if we had the key, we would find that heis telling us what really happened that one fateful day in Dallas.

[paul secor]

I read one of Connolly's novels and didn't care for it - too violent and the plot was too bizarre (though his books are evidently quite popular). No connection to Bird - at least in that book. He's also written several young adult novels with a young character named Samuel Johnson and his dog. Boswell. I guess he has a thing for famous names.

[Scott Dolan]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

Man if Bird had been a cop he could have gotten his junk off the people he busted, no more pawning his (and other people's) sax. That would have been sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, but there is a major flaw! If he'd not been a musician full time, he wouldn't have been as good. 

[Dan Gould]

15 minutes ago, Scott Dolan said:

Ah, but there is a major flaw! If he'd not been a musician full time, he wouldn't have been as good. 

He still could have woodshedded in KC before coming to NY and joining the force.  I never heard that he rehearsed compulsively after he made the big time, a la Trane or Rollins (at times).

[Scott Dolan]

I guess that could have been the case. We certainly have no documentation concerning his practice habits that I’m aware of. Just an assumption on my part. 

[JSngry]

Bird told Paul Desmond:

"I put quite a bit of study into the horn, that's true," he said. "In fact, the neighbors threatened to ask my mother to move once when we were living out West. She said I was driving them crazy with the horn. I used to put in at least 11 to 15 hours a day. ... I did that for over a period of three or four years."

But you can't use Bird as a model for anything behavioral, to be honest. He was a genius in the true sense.

[Scott Dolan]

True, but what is left unsaid there does kind of back up Dan’s assumption more than mine. 

[JSngry]

Exactly. Bird was one of those guys who absorbed everything relatively at once (and early) and then spent the rest of his life playing with it.

[Scott Dolan]

And unlike cats like Coltrane and Rollins, his overall approach never really changed. He just perfected and reperfected it 

Though that could be a function of his early death. Not to mention that the music itself xperiemced no major changes during his career outside of the one he actually created along with Diz and Monk. 

[jazztrain]

A friend recently passed along a copy of a recent book by Walter Mosley.  The main character in it is a retired New York City detective named Joe King Oliver.  

[paul secor]

Harry Bosch, the protagonist in Michael Connelly's mystery series, is a jazz fan.

[Justin V]

8 hours ago, paul secor said:

I read one of Connolly's novels and didn't care for it - too violent and the plot was too bizarre (though his books are evidently quite popular). No connection to Bird - at least in that book. He's also written several young adult novels with a young character named Samuel Johnson and his dog. Boswell. I guess he has a thing for famous names.

I read one Connolly book and vaguely recall some supernatural element.  It was okay for what it was, but it didn't lead me to further explore his books.