At St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, there hangs a shadowbox — a square, three-dimensional display case — containing a black and white photograph of Charlie Parker. His lips are pursed, his fingers are poised and he’s playing his saxophone with deep concentration. Scan it, and the voice of the actor and comedian John Leguizamo begins, crisp and clear. “A blazing jazz virtuoso and developer of bebop, Charlie Parker, or ‘Bird,’ as he was nicknamed, changed the course of music,” Leguizamo says. At the height of his career, the saxophonist moved to the East Village, where the shadowbox now hangs.

Source: New York Times September 16, 2021 21:00 UTC