Charlie christian biography for missionaries

Born July 29, 1916, in Bonham, TX; raised in Dallas, TX, and Oklahoma City; died of pneumonia, March 2, 1942, in New York, NY.

From the moment he burst onto New York City's jazz scene with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Charlie Christian changed forever the way jazz guitar would be played.

Charlie christian biography for missionaries

And although his career--and his life--were brief, Christian's influence on the transformation that jazz underwent through the introduction of bebop remains unquestioned.

Born in Bonham, Texas, northeast of Dallas, in 1916, Christian moved with his family first to Dallas, then, around 1921, to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Christian's father, who was blind, earned a living playing guitar and singing, sometimes with his three sons, Clarence (on violin and mandolin), Edward (on string bass), and Charlie, whose earliest guitars often were hand-made from cigar boxes.

Charlie's skills were evident early, and he avidly absorbed the work of the many excellent southwestern blues and jazz players.

As family fr