Swinging in Heaven, Boppin’ in Hell Jazz and Death

Jazz fans, biographers, critics and scholars seem to have a special fascination for the deaths of their heroes. Textbooks emphasize that jazz is newly created on the spot and is therefore the most fleeting cultural expression, because it exists only in the here and now and can never be replicated. Rather than the musical aspects, the cultural and societal backgrounds from which jazz sprang may form its most distinctive feature. The narratives that surround the death of jazz musicians cast a light on how the music and its practitioners are perceived: jazz is an exceptional music, and therefore its practitioners lead exceptional lives that come to exceptional ends. This chapter offers case studies to investigate the topic of jazz and death. Cases in point are the different narratives that surround the death of Charlie 'Bird' Parker, arguably one the most influential saxophone virtuosos.