Native Son, 2015, was created posthumously after Terry Adkin’s death in 2014 using his plans, statement of purpose and renderings. It was intended to be the centerpiece of his newest series, Ornithology, based on the life and art of Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920-1955). Parker was a seminal figure in the development of Bebop in the 1940’s and one of the most influential improvisational soloists and composers of all time. Native Son is intended to reference the legend of Charlie Parker’s early baptism by fire as a young Kansas City musician. At a jam session with Count Basie’s orchestra, drummer Jo Jones was so displeased with Park’s playing that he publically humiliated him by throwing a cymbal at his feet. The reverberations were followed by the sound of laughter and catcalls. Ross Russell, Charlie Parker's biographer, has the teenager leaving the club saying to himself, "I'll be back" and he kept his promise – not only returning to square things with doubters, but to show everybody with an open mind and open ears a new kind of 20th-century music-making.

“An active work measuring 9 feet in diameter that consists of a feathered layering of cymbals arranged so that they jointly appear as one large cymbal. They float slightly above the floor on felt-ringed cymbal rods in a manner that allows them to slightly clang against one another. Each cymbal is fitted with an electromagnet that when triggered causes the entire work to “twitch” either in a random or programmed pulse series, creating movement and sound. It is intended that this work behave as a living organism that gesticulates at will.”
-Terry Adkins from his proposal for Ornithology