"It was like riding a fire engine around a corner at 90 miles an hour - you're jut hanging on by the tips of your fingers."

Thus a Canadian jazz drummer describes playing with Charlie Parker. In 1953 the great alto saxophonist visited Canada to play with the members of Montreal's Jazz Workshop. Parker also came to Toronto's Massey Hall in a group with Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach.

In Cool Blues one of Canada's leading jazz writer describes the impact that Charlie Parker had on the fledgling jazz communities of Montreal and Toronto. In addition to extensive research and interviews with surviving participants, Mark Miller has also assembled rare photographs of Charlie Parker and his fellow musicians in Canada. These photos, some of which have never before appeared in print, include the famous Harold Robinson shots of the Massey Hall concert.

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