"This one was working. This one always had been working. This one was always having something that was coming out of this one that was a solid thing, a charming thing, a lovely thing, a perplexing thing, a disconcerting thing, a simple thing, a clear thing, a complicated thing, an interesting thing, a disturbing thing, a repellant thing, a very pretty thing. This one was one whom some were follow-ing. This one was the one who was working.” Gertrude Stein’s 1910–11 description of the creative effort of and perceived responses to Pablo Picasso parallels the position of Charlie Parker in 1950, struggling for his music’s acceptance and with his own transcendent vision and inner demons, and illuminates the complexities that ultimately energize the conflicts between entertainment and artistic expression, desperation and exhilaration. The spontaneity and tension inherent in live performance, the special circumstances of personality and place in this instance, and the brilliance of artistry on display, make this among the most valuable and visionary of bebop documents.