Scrapple from the tomato

Charlie Parker, had he lived to see the year 2000, would be 80 years old this coming Sunday, if it weren’t for those old demons heroin and vodka. However, the impact of his music—linear alto-sax runs at blinding speed that squiggle all over the room like a Jackson Pollock painting come to life, improvised over stock show-tune chord progressions—is still felt today. Like practically anyone else playing jazz, local musicians Joe Gilman (piano), Mike McMullen (sax), Henry Robinett (guitar), Kerry Kashiwagi (bass) and Rick Lotter (drums) have been seized by Parker’s muse; special guests Steve Campos (trumpet) and Brandon Mathew (trombone) probably have, too. As the Capital Jazz Project, the group has organized tribute concerts before in honor of Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane’s Impulse catalog and Blue Note Records. This Sunday, Dec. 10, the CJP will make the Bird fly at the American River College Theatre, 4700 College Oak Dr., Sacramento. The program starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 general admission, $8 for students and seniors and free to ARCSA cardholders.