Bird still soars; Charlie Parker centennial

In his latest illustration, Mac McGill pays tribute to jazz great Charlie Parker. The saxophone master and composer, nicknamed Bird, was born on Aug. 29, 1920, meaning this past Saturday was the centennial of his birth. From 1950 to 1954, the bebop pioneer lived in a ground-floor garden apartment at 151 Avenue B, between Ninth and 10th Sts., across from Tompkins Square Park. Parker died at just age 34 in 1955. But his memory lives on in the annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, held in the park, and the designation, nearly 20 years ago, of Avenue B along the park as Charlie Parker Place.