- Bud Powell
Infobox musical artist
Name = Bud Powell
Img_capt = "The Amazing Bud Powell" - early LP cover
Img_size = 200
Landscape =
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Earl Rudolph Powell
Alias =
Born = birth date|1924|9|27
Died = death date and age|1966|7|31|1924|9|27
Origin = flagicon|USANew York City ,USA
Instrument =Piano
Voice_type =
Genre =Jazz ,bebop
Occupation =Pianist
Years_active =
Label =Blue Note Records Mercury Records
Norgran Records
Clef RecordsVerve Records
Associated_acts =Sonny Rollins Miles Davis
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (
September 27 1924 –July 31 1966 inNew York City ) was an American Jazz pianist, usually considered one of the most influential in the history of the music. Along withCharlie Parker andDizzy Gillespie he was instrumental in the development ofbebop , and his virtuosity as a pianist led many to call him "the Charlie Parker of the piano". cite web|url=http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/7297/88/ |title=Four Nights, Four Bands Celebrate Bud Powell at the Iridium, September 27-30 |accessdate=2008-03-20 |last=Canter |first=Andrea |date=2007-09-27 |work=Jazz Police ]Biography
Powell's grandfather was a
flamenco guitar ist, and his father was a stridepianist . The family lived inNew York City . His older brother William played thetrumpet , and by the age of fifteen Powell was playing in his brother's band. Powell had learned classical piano from an early age, but by the age of eight was interested in jazz, playing his own transcriptions ofArt Tatum and stride pianistsFats Waller andJames P. Johnson . His younger brother Richie and schoolfriendElmo Hope were also accomplished pianists who had significant careers.Thelonious Monk was an important early teacher and mentor, and a close friend throughout Powell's life, dedicating the composition "In Walked Bud " to him.In the early forties Powell played in a number of bands, including that of
Cootie Williams , who had to become Powell's guardian because of his youth, and his first recording date was with Williams's band in 1944. This session included the first ever recording of a tune by Monk, "'Round Midnight". Monk also introduced Powell to the circle ofbebop musicians starting to form atMinton's Playhouse , and other early recordings included sessions withFrank Socolow ,Dexter Gordon ,J. J. Johnson ,Sonny Stitt ,Fats Navarro andKenny Clarke . In the early years of bebop, Powell and Monk, as the first great modern jazz pianists, towered over their contemporaries,Al Haig ,Ralph Burns ,Dodo Marmarosa , andWalter Bishop, Jr. Powell soon became renowned for his ability to play accurately at fast tempos, his inspired bebop soloing, and his comprehension of the ideas that
Charlie Parker had suddenly unearthed from "Cherokee" and other song-forms. His solos, conceived in emulation of and rivalry with Parker, are instantly recognizable, with frequentarpeggios punctuated bychromaticism . They are nonetheless progressive-sounding, exploring the harmonic series in unexpected ways. He often formed carefully phrased statements, moving confidently and singing along, even where a phrase broke off, through moments of eloquence and near awkwardness.Powell adhered to a simplified left-hand "comping" recalling
stride and pianistTeddy Wilson . The comping often consisted of single bass notes outlining the root and fifth. He also used a tenth, which he was able to reach easily due to his very large hands, with the minorseventh included.He freed the right hand for continuous linear exploration, and facilitated in the left a statement of the harmonies typical of bebop. When
Art Tatum questioned his neglect of the left hand, the younger player responded audaciously in a subsequent tune by soloing with his left hand. His favoring the treble was not to avoid integrating the hands, which is essential to both a solo and accompanying technique. With his polar division of the keyboard, however, Powell was most responsible for permanently establishing the piano on an equal improvisatory footing with the horns and bass. These formed the basic small ensembles that have dominated jazz since thebebop era (after swing). Before Powell, Art Tatum andEarl Hines had also somewhat explored independent homophony closely resembling later piano playing.Powell's first session as a leader was in a trio with
Curly Russell andMax Roach , recorded in 1947 for the short-lived Deluxe label, but released by Roost two years later. He also recorded onMiles Davis first session as leader withCharlie Parker ,Tommy Potter and Roach during the year.In November 1947, Powell was admitted to
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center , where he stayed for more than a year, receivingelectroconvulsive therapy which caused severe memory loss. The youngJackie McLean andSonny Rollins became friendly with Powell on his release from the hospital, and Powell recommended McLean toMiles Davis . Powell suffered from mental illness throughout his life, possibly triggered by a beating by the police in 1945 after disorderly behavior. (Although he had a prior reputation for strange behaviour, the beating certainly exacerbated his problems.) He was also an alcoholic, and even small quantities of alcohol had a profound effect on his character, making him aggressive. Powell's continued rivalry with Charlie Parker, while essential to the production of brilliant music, was also the subject of disruptive feuding and bitterness on the bandstand, as a result of Powell's troubled mental and physical condition.It is generally agreed that his best recordings are those made prior to 1954, both for
Blue Note Records and forNorman Granz (atMercury Records ,Norgran Records ,Clef Records and later onVerve Records ). The first Blue Note session, in August 1949, featuresFats Navarro ,Sonny Rollins , Powell,Tommy Potter andRoy Haynes , and the compositions "Bouncing with Bud" and "Dance of the Infidels". The second Blue Note session in 1951 was a trio with Russell and Roach, and includes "Parisian Thoroughfare" and "Un Poco Loco", the latter selected by literary criticHarold Bloom for inclusion on his short list of the greatest works of twentieth-century American art. Sessions for Granz (more than a dozen) were all solo or trios, with a variety of bassists and drummers including Russell, Roach,Buddy Rich , Ray Brown,Percy Heath ,George Duvivier ,Art Taylor ,Lloyd Trotman ,Osie Johnson ,Art Blakey andKenny Clarke .Powell recorded for both Blue Note and Verve throughout the fifties, interrupted by another long stay in a mental hospital from late 1951 to early 1953, following arrest for possession of marijuana. He was released into the guardianship of
Oscar Goodstein , the owner of the Birdland nightclub. A 1953 trio session for Blue Note (with Duvivier and Taylor) included Powell's composition "Glass Enclosure", inspired by his near-imprisonment in Goodstein's apartment. His playing after his release from hospital began to be seriously affected by Largactil, taken for the treatment ofschizophrenia , and by the late fifties his talent was clearly in eclipse. In 1956 his brother Richie was killed in a car crash alongsideClifford Brown . Three albums for Blue Note in the late fifties showcased Powell's ability as a composer, but his playing was far removed from the standard set by his earlier recordings for the label.After several further spells in hospital, Powell moved to
Paris in 1959, in the company of Altevia "Buttercup" Edwards, a childhood friend. In Paris, Powell worked in a trio withPierre Michelot andKenny Clarke . Buttercup though did not have his best interests in mind; she kept control of his finances and also overdosing him with Largactil, but he continued to perform and record. The 1960 live recording of theEssen jazz festival performance (with Clarke,Oscar Pettiford and on some numbersColeman Hawkins ) is particularly notable. In December 1961 he recorded two albums forColumbia Records under the aegis ofCannonball Adderley : "A Portrait of Thelonious" (with Michelot and Clarke), and "A Tribute to Cannonball" (with the addition ofDon Byas andIdrees Sulieman . Despite the title, Adderley only plays on one alternate take. The first album was released shortly after Powell's death (with overdubbed audience noise), and the second in the late 1970s. Eventually Powell was befriended byFrancis Paudras , a commercial artist and amateur pianist, and Powell moved into Paudras's home in 1962. There was a brief return to Blue Note in 1963, whenDexter Gordon recorded "Our Man in Paris" for the label. Powell was a last-minute substitute forKenny Drew , and the album of standards-Powell could not by then learn new material-showed him to be still capable of playing with some proficiency at least. In 1963 Powell contractedtuberculosis , and the following year he returned to New York with Paudras. The original agreement had been for the two men to go back to Paris, but Paudras returned alone, and Powell died hospitalized in 1966 after months of increasingly erratic behavior and self-neglect.In 1986 Paudras wrote a book about his friendship with Powell, translated into English in 1997 as "Dance of the Infidels: A Portrait of Bud Powell". The book was the basis for "Round Midnight," a film inspired by the lives of Powell and
Lester Young , in whichDexter Gordon played the lead role of an expatriate jazzman in Paris.Discography
Early Recordings
* "Tempus Fugue-It" - Proper Records, four disc set, from 1944 recordings with Cootie Williams to the first sessions for Blue Note and Clef in 1949-50.
Blue Note Records
* "The Amazing Bud Powell, Volume One" - 1949 and 1951 sessions.
* "The Amazing Bud Powell, Volume Two " - 1953 session.
* "The Amazing Bud Powell, Volume Three - Bud! " - 1957 session.
* "Time Waits" - 1958.
* "The Scene Changes" - 1958.
* "The Complete Blue Note and Roost Recordings" - Four discs, including all the above sessions plus the 1947 Roost session and one recorded in 1953 for the same label. The single disc issues have been remastered since this box was released, and are arguably better (though the Roost material is not included).Verve Records
* "The Genius of Bud Powell" - 1950 session in trio; 1951 session solo.
* "The Complete Bud Powell on Verve" - Five discs, sessions from 1949 to 1956.
* "The Best of Bud Powell on Verve" - single disc compilation of the best of Powell's work for the label.Xanadu Records
* "
Bud In Paris " (1959, 1960;Xanadu Records )As sideman
"'with
Dexter Gordon :
*"Our Man in Paris " (1963)with The Quintet:
*"Jazz at Massey Hall " (1953)elected Compositions
* "Blue Pearl"
* "Bouncing with Bud"
* "Bud's Bubble"
* "Bud on Bach"
* "Celia"
* "Cleopatra's Dream"
* "Dance of the Infidels"
* "Dusk in Sandi"
* "Fantasy in Blue"
* "Glass Enclosure"
* "Hallucinations" (aka "Budo")
* "John's Abbey"
* "Monopoly"
* "Oblivion"
* "Parisian Thoroughfare"
* "The Scene Changes"
* "So Sorry Please"
* "Tempus Fugue-It" (aka "Tempus Fugit")
* "Time Waits"
* "Un Poco Loco "
* "Wail"References
External links
* [http://www.jazzdisco.org/bud/ Bud Powell discography]
* [http://www.budpowelljazz.com/ Website devoted to Bud Powell] (includes mp3 samples)
* [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/375/Jazz_pianist_Bud_Powell_a_serious_player The African American Registry - Bud Powell]
*amg|id=11:x9c8b5z4tsqk|label=Bud Powell
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6DA1038F932A35752C0A963958260 New York Times profile]
* [http://www.kerouacalley.com/powell.html Bud Powell multimedia directory]
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