Bird Turns 106 — Charlie Parker Day at the American Jazz Museum
Saturday, August 29, 2026 · 10:00 am–3:30 pm · free and open to the public
Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City on August 29, 1920, and came of age blocks from where the American Jazz Museum stands today — a teenager carrying an alto saxophone through the clubs of 18th & Vine, listening at the doors until the music let him in. What he did with that horn changed American music permanently.
On Saturday, August 29, the museum celebrates Bird’s 106th birthday where his story began, with a full day of live music, conversation, deep listening, and family fun — all of it free and open to the public. And if you want to walk the museum’s galleries while you’re here, regular admission gets you in; there’s no better day for it, as you’ll see below.
10:00 am — Saxophone Salute at the Bird Lives statue
The day opens outdoors, beneath Robert Graham’s towering bronze of Bird, with a 30-minute concert of Charlie Parker’s tunes — played by a band of Kansas City’s own: Steven Martin, Roger Wilder, Ben Tervort, Kenny Watson, and friends. There is no better way to start Bird’s birthday than his own music, played live, in the neighborhood that raised him.
10:30 am — Instrument petting zoo, sponsored by B.A.C. Horn Doctor
Ever wondered what it feels like to make a sound come out of a horn? Here’s your chance. All morning (10:30 am–12:30 pm) and afternoon (1:30–3:30 pm), the instrument petting zoo is open to all ages — for people who’ve never played a wind instrument, for those who haven’t picked one up in decades, and for players curious about instrument families beyond their own. Every instrument is properly sanitized between players. It’s a small thing with a big purpose: closing the distance between musicians and everyone else, one first note at a time.
11:00 am — “Bird in Kansas City” with Chuck Haddix
Nobody knows this story better. Chuck Haddix wrote Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker, and he’ll trace how this city shaped Bird — the neighborhoods, the jam sessions, the players who pushed him — with time for your questions at the end.
Mr. Haddix also co-curated Saxophone Supreme: The Life & Music of Charlie Parker, the museum’s Parker exhibit — and it closes the very next day. Charlie Parker Day is your last Saturday to see it, so grab museum admission while you’re here.
12:30 pm — The “Listen In” session
A brand-new museum program makes its debut. “Listen in” is what jazz musicians say when they mean listen harder — and this session is built on exactly that idea: slowing down with great records, rebuilding the deep-listening skills our swipe-and-scroll culture has let slip, and letting the music unlock creativity in everyday life. Curated by the museum’s education and collections teams, this is the first of what we hope will be many.
1:30 pm — “Ornithology” trivia
How well do you really know Bird? Play solo or bring a team. Answer 7 of 10 questions correctly and you’ll earn free entry into a second raffle drawing — three winning tickets take home a prize bag from the museum’s Swing Shop.
2:15 pm — Guest artist: Willie Cole, sponsored by B.A.C.
If you’ve flown out of Kansas City lately, you’ve stood under Willie Cole’s tribute to Bird: Ornithology, the flock of birds sculpted entirely from alto saxophones, soaring over Concourse B at KCI. The piece was assembled right here in the 18th & Vine district, and Mr. Cole — whose work lives in the collections of MoMA, the Met, and the Whitney — has said it “just seemed logical to make birds out of saxophones” for the city that raised Charlie “Yardbird” Parker.
On Bird’s birthday, the sculptor comes to the museum for a panel conversation about his artwork and his lifelong relationship with jazz. The birds, in other words, come home to roost.
3:30 pm — Raffle winners announced
Two raffles, two ways to win. Raffle tickets are $5 each, and the winning ticket takes home a mini Ornithology statue donated by B.A.C. Horn Doctor — the Vine Street shop that hand-builds professional horns a few blocks from the museum. And if you played the trivia challenge, your 7-of-10 score already entered you in the free second drawing for one of three Swing Shop prize bags.
Charlie Parker Day Celebration Saturday, August 29, 2026 · 10:00 am–3:30 pm American Jazz Museum · 1616 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108 Free and open to the public. Museum gallery entry, including Saxophone Supreme, requires regular admission.
Details at americanjazzmuseum.org/exhibits-events/charlie-parker-day