Biography
In 1946, Charlie Parker was committed to Camarillo State Mental Hospital, after a series of incidents related to his heroin addiction and heavy drinking. Coming out of the hospital, Parker was initially clean and healthy, and proceeded to do some of the best playing and recording of his career. Before leaving California, he recorded "Relaxin' at Camarillo", in reference to his hospital stay. He returned to New York – and his addiction – and recorded dozens of sides for the Savoy and Dial labels that remain some of the high points of his recorded output. Many of these were with his so-called "classic quintet" including trumpeter Miles Davis and drummer Max Roach.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.