Jazz and Drugs

Something that makes me very angry when thinking about Jazz history is the use of drugs and how not only, the irresponsible use of them ruined the lives of some of jazz's most influential artists but also how they have come to affect how people think about jazz today.  Two members Wynton Marsalis' Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra share there thoughts in the video below.

**Due to publising issues, the video cannot be cropped or displayed on my blog, please click here and skip to 5:11, watch until 5:42.

When I think Jazz and drugs, the first name that comes to mind is Charlie Parker.  Charlie Parker, or "Bird" made Jazz what it is today.  He was one of the most influential Jazz musicians of all time.  But his contributions came with a severe price.  Bird was and in many cases, still is, the pinnacle of what a Jazz musician should be.  He was just lightyears ahead of everyone else, and Wynton Marsalis himself once said at a masterclass that no one has done what he did as well as him since and described himself as a "Bird imitator".  Parker also had a severe heroin addiction.  So he created a legacy of Jazz musicians who were all searching for Parker's secret.  Many became convinced that heroin was that secret.  From that point on, drugs, specifically heroin use was of epidemic proportions.  They caused the death many of the music's most prominent artists such as Chet Baker, and ruined other's such as Miles Davis.  Modern jazz has for the most part grown out of that era.  However, the stereotypes remain strong.  I hope that people can recognize the growth in responsibility jazz has experienced and move beyond old stereotypes.