I’ve been listening to a record of my father’s, "The Fabulous Bird: Charlie Parker" (Jazztone, J-1214). It was issued in 1957, two years after Charlie Parker died. It contains 14 bursts of bebop wisdom, with fertile titles like "Dewey Square" and "Klactoveedsedstene." Today I listened to the record for six minutes, then did my yoga. (Incidentally, I strongly recommend this practice.) While lying on my yoga mat, I heard the phrase "mouth fulfillment" in my mind. "That’s the truth of Charlie Parker!" I realized. "He was one of the few musicians in history to achieve ‘mouth fulfillment!’" His mouth fulfilled what his mighty mind conceived.
No one has ever played so slowly — so unhurriedly — while playing so fast. Clearly, time was very slow to Bird. A second for you and me was 7 seconds to him. He changed his mind with each note he played, then he changed it again. But the changing of his mind itself was beautiful.
His music is still befuddling, tempestuous. Solos like his will not be popular until the 34th century.