Chan Parker Chan Parker Chan Woods (born Beverly Dolores Berg, also known as Chan Richardson; 29 June 1925 – 9 September 1999), well known as Chan Parker, was a common-law wife of jazz musician Charlie Parker who later married musician Phil Woods. She was born in New York City, New York. She was a dancer and jazz enthusiast who in the 1940s and early 1950s was romantically connected with jazz musicians Johnny Bothwell and later Don Lanphere. She met Parker in the 1940s, but their friendship did not become romantic until years later. As it developed, their relationship had to surmount several
Charlie Parker with a chicken and the tour bus. In 1942 Parker left McShann's band and played for one year with Earl Hines, whose band included Dizzy Gillespie, who later played with Parker as a duo. This period is virtually undocumented, due to the strike of 1942–1943 by the American Federation of Musicians, during which time few professional recordings were made. Parker joined a group of young musicians, and played in after-hours clubs in Harlem, such as Clark Monroe's Uptown House. These young iconoclasts included Gillespie, pianist Thelonious Monk, guitarist Charlie Christian, and drummer Kenny Clarke. The beboppers' attitude was summed up