EXHUMING 'BIRD
Two Views on Moving Charlie Parker's Grave


Moving the Grave Disrespects Charlie Parker and Jazz
By Edward B. "Eddie" Baker
President of the Charlie Parker Memorial Foundation
(As first appeared in the Kansas City Star, Nov. 6, 1998)

This serves as a formal protest of the plan to exhume the body of Charlie Parker for the purpose of increasing tourist traffic and revenue to the 18th and Vine area. This proposed action is an insult to the jazz community and is an unconscionable act.

It is questionable whether the exorbitant purchase of a saxophone contributed to tourist traffic at 18th and Vine. That initial act of desperation did not produce the desired result of increasing revenue to the area.

In addition to the fact that there is no reasonable precedent for this action, it also lacks dignity, it disregards the sanctity of the resting spirit and it reduces the richness of jazz and its legacy to Kansas City to a cheap and desperate commodity.

More important, such an action flies in the face of the spiritual human closure accomplished when one completes life on earth. To follow through on this proposed action would injure Kansas City's chances to reposition itself as a jazz destination.

Charlie Parker was not received in Kansas City in an endearing manner, and he expressed a strong desire not to be buried here. Some of his intimate friends to whom he expressed this desire are still alive and living here.

Moreover, the Charlie Parker Memorial Foundation has been the only entity to formally and consistently advocate and maintain the grave site and present annual memorial services for the last 40 years. We chose not to exploit the Charlie Parker legacy in a way that reduces it to a mere economic benefit. Rather, we chose to expand the cultural, educational, recreational and vocational spirit of Charlie Parker.

We are appalled and insulted by this proposed action. There are less intrusive ways to accomplish the objective of honoring Charlie Parker -- if indeed that is the goal -- than to exhume and relocate his remains. Statues can be commissioned and appropriate photographs can be taken of his preserved grave site and displayed within the historic 18th and Vine district.

The Charlie Parker Jazz music educational scholarship is already established within the International Jazz Hall of Fame's "Parker-Gillespie Institute of the Jazz Masters," and we encourage the city's political leaders to assist in the development of the same for the 18th and Vine area. A "living" memorial would go much further than exploiting his remains in such an undignified manner.

In the meantime, a group is currently in the application process to place the Lincoln Cemetery in the National Register of Historic Places for its unique significance. The group intends to seek the same designation for Charlie Parker's grave site specifically. A listing in the National Register qualifies a property to apply for historic preservation grants that could be used to enhance the site.

Many qualities make both locations good candidates. A community-wide effort toward this objective would greatly strengthen the endeavor. In this context, it would be extremely unwise and regrettable to unnecessarily destroy Charlie Parker's grave site.

We challenge Kansas City's political leadership to rise above the temptation to disrespect jazz or its legends by following through with this distasteful proposal. We cannot and will not endorse this action, and we will exercise whatever power we possess to discourage active acknowledgement of this action as anything other than an insult to the jazz community.

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It's a Chance to Right Some Embarrassing Wrongs
by Mike Metheny
Editor, JAM Magazine

It's easy to understand why some people would be squeamish about digging up a grave. Disturbing the dead is serious stuff. Now that the reality of doing just that with the remains of Charlie Parker is starting to sink in, well-meaning voices of opposition are starting to be heard. Even the great Kansas City bassist Milt Abel (who sang at 'Bird's funeral, no less) was quoted in the Oct. 26 Boston Globe as saying the planned exhumation and move made for "a circus" and wasn't necessarily respectful. You have to take the words of a local jazz legend like Milt Abel seriously.

Parker's tombstone with the tenor sax

On the other hand -- and with all due respect to Milt -- this seems like a timely opportunity to right two lingering and embarrassing wrongs. In 1994, when a new stone was unveiled at Lincoln Cemetery, the Kansas City jazz community (and eventually the entire jazz world) got to squirm at the sight of what appears to be a tenor saxophone engraved on the marker. That may be an inconsequential detail to many, but if someone carved a banjo onto Elvis Presley's tombstone, you can bet there would be an uproar about that.

Also, Lincoln Cemetery may have been a pretty place in 1955 when 'Bird was laid to rest, but to see how it looks now -- and to realize that it serves as a last stop for such an important jazz icon -- remains a sobering experience. A great innovator of Charlie Parker's stature deserved, and deserves so much more.

So, relocating the grave to 18th & Vine feels like the right initiative at the right time. It's a chance to replace a flawed marker with a majestic sculpture, it gives Charlie Parker a dignified final resting place in a part of Kansas City known for jazz, and, unlike Lincoln Cemetery, it's a destination jazz lovers from all over the world will be able to find with ease.

Still having some doubts? Then consider this. It's no secret that Kansas City has a regrettable history of not always doing what is right for its jazz musicians. Witness the numerous departures (including Parker's more than 50 years ago) of so many gifted performers in search of greener pastures. Or those who, even today, choose to live here, yet must go elsewhere for more fulfilling careers. Now Kansas City has an opportunity to do a good thing, not only for a notable native son, but for the music it continues to claim, and for jazz history itself.

It's a belated gesture of high regard whose time has finally come.


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