Bud Powell
The Amazing Bud Powell - early LP cover
Background information
Birth name	Earl Rudolph Powell
Born	September 27, 1924(1924-09-27)
Origin	New York City, USA
Died	July 31, 1966 (aged 41)
Genre(s)	Jazz, bebop
Occupation(s)	Pianist
Instrument(s)	Piano
Label(s)	Blue Note Records Mercury Records Norgran Records Clef Records Verve Records
Associated acts	Sonny Rollins Miles Davis

Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966 in New York City) was one of the most influential pianists in the history of jazz. Along with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie he was instrumental in the development of bebop, and his virtuosity as a pianist led many to call him "the Charlie Parker of the piano". Image File history File links Amazing_Bud_Powell. ... is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Bebop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ... Pianist Claudio Arrau, Carnegie Hall, 1954. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. ... Mercury Records was a record label founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams and Arthur Talmadge. ... Verve Records is an American Jazz record label, founded by Norman Granz in 1956, which absorbed the catalogues of his earlier labels: Norgran Records and Clef Records (founded 1953). ... Theodore Walter Sonny Rollins (born September 7, 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. ... Miles Dewey Davis III (26 May 1926 – 28 September 1991) was one of the most influential musicians of the latter half of the 20th century. ... is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Cover from album by Bud Powell. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Charles Bird Parker, Jr. ... John Birks Dizzy Gillespie (October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. ... Bebop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ...

Life

Powell's grandfather was a flamenco guitarist, and his father was a stride pianist. The family lived in New York City. His older brother William played the trumpet, 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 of Art Tatum and stride pianists Fats Waller and James P. Johnson. Younger brother Richie was also an accomplished pianist, as was schoolfriend Elmo Hope. Thelonious Monk was an important early teacher and mentor, and a close friend throughout Powell's life, dedicating the composition "In Walked Bud" to Powell. In the early forties Powell played in a number of bands, including that of Cootie Williams, and in 1944 his first recording date was with Williams's band. This session included the first ever recording of a tune by Monk, "'Round Midnight". Monk also introduced Powell to the circle of bebop musicians starting to form at Minton's Playhouse, and other early recordings included sessions with Frank Socolow, Dexter Gordon, J. J. Johnson, Sonny Stitt, Fats Navarro and Kenny 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, and Walter Bishop, Jr. Flamenco is a Spanish musical genre. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Stride is a pioneering jazz piano style. ... Pianist Claudio Arrau, Carnegie Hall, 1954. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The trumpet is the highest brass instrument in register, above the French horn, trombone, baritone, euphonium, and tuba. ... Arthur Tatum Jr. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 - November 17, 1955) was a pianist and composer. ... Richie Powell (September 5, 1931 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz pianist. ... Elmo Sylvester Hope (1923–1967) was an American jazz pianist, performing chiefly in the bop and hard bop genres. ... Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer. ... Charles Melvin (Cootie) Williams (1910-1985) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Round Midnight is a 1944 song by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. ... Bebop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ... Minton’s Playhouse is a jazz club and bar located on the first floor of the Hotel Cecil at 210 West 118th Street in Harlem. ... Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923–April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and an Academy Award-nominated actor. ... J. J. Johnson, in about the mid-1960s J. J. Johnson (born James Louis Johnson) in Indianapolis, Indiana, (January 22, 1924 - elements of both classical and jazz music. ... Sonny Stitt, a quintessential bop saxophonist. ... Theodore (Fats) Navarro (24 September 1923 – 6 July 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player. ... Kenny Clarke (born January 9, 1914 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. ... Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Michael Dodo Marmarosa (1925 - September 17, 2002) was an American bebop pianist born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Walter Bishop, Jr. ...

Powell soon became renowned for his ability to play accurately at fast tempos, inspired bebop soloing, and his comprehension of the ideas that Charlie Parker had suddenly unearthed from Cherokee and other song-forms. Powell's solos, conceived in emulation of and rivalry with Parker, are instantly recognizable and descript, with frequent arpeggios punctuated by chromaticism. They are nonetheless progressive-sounding, reaching for the heights of the harmonic series, beyond the confines of classical harmony to the extent possible within the piano keyboard. Powell formed series of brief, carefully phrased statements, moving confidently even where a phrase broke off, through moments of eloquence and near awkwardness. Powell adhered to a simplifed left-hand "comping" recalling stride and pianist Teddy 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 minor seventh included. Charles Bird Parker, Jr. ... This article will be merged with Italian musical terms at some point in the near future. ... In music, chromatic indicates the inclusion of notes not in the prevailing scale and is also used for those notes themselves (Shir-Cliff et al 1965, p. ... See Harmonic series (music) Harmonic series (mathematics) These two concepts are related. ... In music accompaniment is the art of playing along with a soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner as well as the music thus played. ... Stride is a type of piano-playing, used primarily in jazz. ... Theodore Shaw Teddy Wilson (born November 24, 1912 in Austin, Texas-died July 31, 1986 in New Britain, Connecticut) was a United States jazz pianist. ... In music, see the intervals: seventh, musical group Major seventh minor seventh diminished seventh The note of a chord forming any of the above intervals with the chords root. ...

Powell 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 Powell's neglect of the left hand, the younger player responded audaciously in a subsequent tune by soloing with his left hand. Powell's 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 the swing era. Before Powell, Art Tatum and Earl Hines had also somewhat explored independent homophony closely resembling later piano playing. Arthur Tatum Jr. ... Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. ... Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl Fatha Hines, (28 December 1903[1] Duquesne, Pennsylvania – 22 April 1983 in Oakland, California) was one of the most important pianists in the history of jazz. ...

Powell's first session as a leader was in a trio with Curly Russell and Max Roach, recorded in 1947 but not released until two years later, by Roost. He also recorded a session with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tommy Potter and Roach during this year. In November 1947, he was admitted to Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, where he stayed for over a year, receiving electroconvulsive therapy which caused severe memory loss. The young Jackie McLean and Sonny Rollins became friendly with Powell on his release from the hospital, and Powell recommended McLean to Miles 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 reputation for strange behaviour prior to this beating, it 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, essential to the production of brilliant music, was also the subject of disruptive feuding and bitterness on the band-stand, as a result of Powell's troubled mental and physical condition. Curly Russell (19th March 1917 - 3rd July 1986) was an American jazz musician, who played bass on many bebop recordings. ... Jazz in 3/4 time cover released in 1957 on EmArcy Maxwell Lemuel Roach (born January 10, 1924) is a percussionist, drummer, and jazz composer. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Charles Bird Parker, Jr. ... Miles Dewey Davis III (26 May 1926 – 28 September 1991) was one of the most influential musicians of the latter half of the 20th century. ... Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village, Queens, New York, provides inpatient, outpatient and residential services for severely mentally ill patients. ... Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock, is a controversial psychiatric treatment in which seizures are induced with electricity. ... John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean (born May 17, 1932) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and educator, born in New York City. ... Theodore Walter Sonny Rollins (born September 7, 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. ... Miles Dewey Davis III (26 May 1926 – 28 September 1991) was one of the most influential musicians of the latter half of the 20th century. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ...

It is generally agreed that his best recordings are those made prior to 1954, both for Blue Note Records and for Norman Granz (at Mercury Records, Norgran Records, Clef Records and later on Verve Records). The first Blue Note session, in August 1949, features Fats Navarro, Sonny Rollins, Powell, Tommy Potter and Roy Haynes, and the compositions Bouncing with Bud and Dance of the Infidels. The second Blue Note session was a trio with Russell and Roach, and includes Parisian Thoroughfare and Un Poco Loco, the latter selected by literary critic Harold 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 and Kenny Clarke. Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. ... Norman Granz (Los Angeles, USA, August 6, 1918 - Geneva, Switzerland, November 22, 2001), was an American jazz music impresario and producer. ... Mercury Records was a record label founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams and Arthur Talmadge. ... Verve Records is an American Jazz record label, founded by Norman Granz in 1956, which absorbed the catalogues of his earlier labels: Norgran Records and Clef Records (founded 1953). ... Theodore (Fats) Navarro (24 September 1923 – 6 July 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player. ... Theodore Walter Sonny Rollins (born September 7, 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. ... He is equally adept at gracefully backing a singer like Sarah Vaughan or in explosive interactions with the likes of John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Eric Dolphy, or Andrew Hill. ... Harold Bloom (b. ... Harold Bloom (b. ... Bernard Buddy Rich (September 30, 1917 Brooklyn, New York – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. ... Raymond Matthews Brown (October 13, 1926–July 2, 2002) was an American jazz double bassist. ... Percy Heath, (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005), was a jazz musician, most famous for his 40+ years as the double bass player for the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Arthur S. Taylor, Jr. ... James Osie Johnson (born January 11, 1923 in Washington, D.C.; died February 10, 1966 in New York City) was a jazz drummer. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Kenny Clarke (born January 9, 1914 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. ...

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 of schizophrenia, and by the late fifties his talent was clearly in decline. In 1956 his brother Richie was killed in a car crash alongside Clifford Brown. Three albums for Blue Note in the late fifties showcased Powell's ability as a composer, but his playing was nowhere near 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. Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Cannabis sativa plant The drug cannabis, also called marijuana, is produced from parts of the cannabis plant, primarily the cured flowers and gathered trichomes of the female plant. ... Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City in 1949. ... Chlorpromazine was the first antipsychotic drug, used during the 1950s and 1960s. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Clifford Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In Paris, Powell worked in a trio with Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke. Buttercup was keeping control of his finances and also over-dosing him with Largactil, but he continued to perform and record — the 1960 live recording of the Essen jazz festival performance (with Clarke, Oscar Pettiford and on some numbers Coleman Hawkins) is particularly notable. In December 1961 he recorded two albums for Columbia Records under the aegis of Cannonball Adderley - A Portrait of Thelonious (with Michelot and Clarke), and A Tribute to Cannonball (with the addition of Don Byas and Idrees 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 by Francis 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, when Dexter Gordon recorded Our Man in Paris for the label - Powell was a last-minute substitution for Kenny Drew, and the album of standards showed him to still be capable of playing well. In 1963 Powell contracted tuberculosis, 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. Pierre Michelot (March 3, 1928-July 2, 2005) was a French jazz bass player. ... Kenny Clarke (born January 9, 1914 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Essen is a city in the center of the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Oscar Pettiford (Okmulgee, Oklahoma, 30 September 1922-Copenhagen, Denmark, 8 September 1960) was an American jazz bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop. ... Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins, nicknamed Hawk and sometimes Bean, (November 21, 1901 or 1904 - May 19, 1969) was a prominent jazz tenor saxophone musician. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ... Julian Edwin Cannonball Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975), originally from Tampa, Florida, was a jazz alto saxophonist of the small combo era of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Carlos Wesley (Don) Byas (October 21, 1912-August 24, 1972) was a popular African-American jazz musician born in Muskogee, Oklahoma in the United States. ... Idrees Sulieman was a trumpet player, who participated in the movement of jazz music known as bepop. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923–April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and an Academy Award-nominated actor. ... Kenneth Sidney (Kenny) Drew (August 28, 1928 - August 4, 1993) was an American jazz pianist from New York City. ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Abnormality is a subjectively defined characteristic, assigned to those with rare or dysfunctional conditions. ...

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 title is derived from one of Bud's compositions). The book was the basis for Round Midnight, a film inspired by the lives of Bud Powell and Lester Young, in which Dexter Gordon played the lead role of an expatriate jazzman in Paris. Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... Round Midnight is a 1986 film directed by Bertrand Tavernier that tells the story of a tenor saxophone player in Paris in the 1950s who is befriended by a poor Frenchman who idolizes the musician and tries to help him to get out of his life of alcohol abuse. ... Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923–April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and an Academy Award-nominated actor. ...

Selected compositions

As well as a pianist of great skill, Powell was a prolific composer. Some of his most famous compositions include:

• Un Poco Loco
• Tempus Fugue-It (aka Tempus Fugit)
• Dance of the Infidels
• Bouncing with Bud
• Cleopatra's Dream
• Hallucinations a.k.a. Budo
• Celia

Un Poco Loco is a composition by jazz pianist and composer Bud Powell. ...

Selected recordings on CD

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 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)

Xanadu Records was a jazz music record label specializing in bebop throughout the 1970s and 1980s founded by Don Schlitten, recording and issuing recordings by some legendary names in jazz music such as Dexter Gordon, Al Cohn, Sonny Criss, Shorty Rogers, Charles McPherson, Jimmy Raney, Art Pepper, Ted Dunbar, Bob...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Bud Powell

• Bud Powell discography
• Website devoted to Bud Powell (includes mp3 samples)
• The African American Registry - Bud Powell
• Bud Powell at All Music Guide