Charlie Parker

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Lore & Background

In November 2013, Alex Webb created a narrated jazz show based on two years in the life of jazz musician Charlie Parker called Charlie Parker on Dial. The show played at the London Jazz Festival and subsequently at London's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.

Reader's Guide

Charlie Parker on Dial is a narrated jazz show created by Alex Webb, based on two years in the life of jazz musician Charlie Parker. It premiered at the London Jazz Festival in November 2013 and later played at London's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.

Did You Know?

• Alex Webb created a narrated jazz show called Charlie Parker on Dial based on two years in the life of Charlie Parker.
• Charlie Parker on Dial premiered at the London Jazz Festival in November 2013.
• The show subsequently played at London's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.

Songwriting and Collaborative Roots

Born in 1961 and educated at both Manchester University and the University of Connecticut, Alex Webb has built a career that weaves together performance, composition, and storytelling. From the 1980s onward, he played alongside a wide range of ensembles spanning jazz, pop, and reggae, including Manchester-based groups Carmel and Harlem Spirit. He also served as a percussionist with the London School of Samba in the early 1990s. As a songwriter, Webb has written for a broad circle of UK jazz vocalists and instrumentalists, with his compositions recorded by artists such as Liane Carroll, China Moses, David McAlmont, and Mina Agossi. His live performance partners have included Gary Crosby, Guy Barker, Danny Moss, Art Themen, Denys Baptiste, Nathaniel Facey, and Gwyneth Herbert, among others. Webb comes from a family with deep ties to the arts: his late brother Nick Webb founded the jazz group Acoustic Alchemy, his aunt was actress Sylvia Syms, and his cousin is actress Beatie Edney. This blend of musical versatility and creative family heritage has shaped a career defined by constant collaboration across genres and disciplines.

Stage Productions and Jazz Storytelling

Since 2008, Webb has expanded his role from performer to director and narrator, creating stage productions that bring jazz history to life. Two early shows, Strayhorn the Songwriter (2010) and Jazz at Cafe Society (2011), were both commissioned by the London Jazz Festival. The latter, which explored the legendary 1940s New York club, enjoyed a run at the Tricycle Theatre in 2012 and was revived as Cafe Society Swing at the Leicester Square Theatre in 2013 and 2014. In November 2013, he premiered Charlie Parker on Dial, a narrated show tracing two pivotal years in the saxophonist's life, which played at the London Jazz Festival and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. Cafe Society Swing crossed the Atlantic for a three-week engagement at New York's 59E59 Theaters over Christmas 2014, with Webb conducting from the piano and a cast that included vocalists Charenee Wade and Cyrille Aimée. The New York Times awarded it a Critic's Pick. In 2017, he co-composed Stormy: the Life of Lena Horne with Camilla Beeput, a one-woman show that toured the Norfolk & Norwich, Bath, and Aldeburgh festivals and earned a glowing review in The Times.

Journalism, Broadcasting, and Institutional Roles

Beyond the stage and studio, Webb has maintained a parallel career in media and the music industry. He has worked at the BBC World Service, BBC News Online, and BBC Radio 3, where he co-ordinated the Radio 3 Awards for World Music and, alongside BBC Radio 2, helped organise the BBC Jazz Awards. His industry experience extends to music publishing at the UK Music Publishers Association and to hands-on work at several prominent venues: the Band on the Wall in Manchester during the mid-1980s, Peter Ind's Bass Clef in London in the late 1980s, and the Barbican Centre from 2007 to 2011. As a freelance journalist, he has contributed to The Guardian, The Independent, Straight No Chaser, and New Statesman, covering topics ranging from bossa nova and cool jazz to George Orwell. From 1996 to 1997, he served as a political journalist and researcher on Alastair Stewart's Sunday Programme for GMTV. Webb is also a member of the Musicians' Union, PRS for Music, and PPL, and has held a position as a university lecturer in music and events management.

Albums and Later Collaborative Projects

Webb's recording output in recent years reflects his commitment to showcasing diverse voices and honouring jazz's greats. In 2016 he released Call Me Lucky under the name Alex Webb & The Copasetics, a collection of thirteen original songs performed by eleven different jazz vocalists, earning universally warm reviews. In November 2019, he and David McAlmont issued The Last Bohemians, an album of original compositions and unusual cover versions that drew highly positive critical attention. Since 2018, Webb has co-led a group with saxophonist Tony Kofi dedicated to the music of Cannonball Adderley, and the two also created a words-and-music project centred on Billie Holiday. His 2022 release British Standard Time, on Lateralize Records, featured vocalists Jo Harrop, Carroll Thompson, Tony Momrelle, and Luca Manning singing works by British songwriters; it was named Jazz FM Album of the Week and selected as a Jazzwise editor's choice. In November 2024, he released Women's Words, Sisters' Stories with vocalist Ineza, a touring show spotlighting female composers that Jazzwise praised for combining melodic beauty with emotional depth. That same year, he assembled The Pocket Ellington, a seven-piece Duke Ellington tribute featuring Alan Barnes, Tony Kofi, and Dave Green.