Bud Powell

Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach: Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings

by Richard J Salvucci
December 28, 2023

This is the stuff of legend, one for the ages. It all started here; the greatest jazz concert of all time. How many times has the Massey Hall Concert (Toronto, 1953) been described that way? For the average All About Jazz reader, Massey Hall happened before he or she was born. Besides, there were other famous jazz concerts such as The Carnival of Swing (Randall's Island, NY, 1938), Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert (that remained unreleased until 1958), Gene ...

An American in France: A Travelogue, Part II

by David Brown
August 8, 2023

For this week's show, we again visit Europe with a variety of American artists performing and recording in France, living in France and collaborating with French artists. We'll also check out a few recent French Jazz releases all along the way. Etes-vous prêt?PlaylistThelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 01:50 Sidney Bechet “Baby, Won't You Please Come Home" from Sidney Bechet & His New Orleans Feetwarmers (Esquire) 02:00 Bud Powell “Parisian Thoroughfare" from In ...

Charlie Parker: At Birdland 1950 Revisited

by Chris May
June 1, 2023

When it comes to live recordings of Charlie Parker, Jazz At Massey Hall, from a concert in Toronto in May 1953, has been widely considered the slam-dunk number one ever since Charles Mingus released it on his Debut label in 1956. Forensicists might favour the 7-CD The Complete Dean Benedetti Recordings Of Charlie Parker (Mosaic, 1990), but for most people, Massey Hall takes pole position. There have, however, been challengers for the top spot. Prominent among them ...

Charlie Parker: Birth Of Bebop - Celebrating Bird At 100

by Mark Corroto
August 2, 2020

Let's face it, there is absolutely nothing new to say about the music of Charlie Parker, unless (insert joke here) you happen to be Phil Schaap. Lao Tzu's quote “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long" is fitting. John Coltrane was 40 when he died in 1967, Eric Dolphy 36 in 1964, and Clifford Brown died at 25 in 1956. Parker was dead at the age of thirty-five in 1955. His legend has grown larger with ...

First, Ohm’s Law (musically)

by Marc Cohn
May 22, 2020

Starting out, a 'physics lesson' courtesy of Seamus Blake, Hank Mobley & Tain! We revive our R&B compare and contrast feature with Ivory Joe Hunter versus Jimmy Smith. Centennials? Of course: Bird and Dave Brubeck (solo)! Along the way, John Patitucci, Bud Powell, Gregory Agid and Anat Cohen, as well as our continuing chronological celebration of the musical life of Sonny Rollins. Playlist Seamus Blake “Ohm" from Superconductor (5Passion) 00:00 Hank Mobley “Hi Voltage" from Hi Voltage ...

Charlie Parker: The Savoy 10-inch LP Collection

by Kyle Simpler
March 7, 2020

Charlie Parker is one of the most important musicians in jazz history and a household name even for people who never listen to jazz. His music is like a textbook for aspiring jazz musicians, and it still sounds modern even after more than a half century since its creation. 2020 marks the centennial of Parker's birth, and to help commemorate the anniversary, Craft Recordings has released a vinyl box set containing the first four “The New Sounds in Modern Music" ...

Un Poco Loco – The Intensity of Bud Powell (1946 - 1953)

by Russell Perry
May 9, 2019

Mentored by Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell became the first great piano innovator of bebop. “It would be hard to overstate Powell's impact. His ingenious technique and originality as an improviser and composer established the foundation for all pianists to follow. Long after bop had faded, Powell remained a source of inspiration for pianists as varied as the harmonically engrossed Bill Evans and the rhythmically unfettered Cecil Taylor. In other words there is jazz piano Before Powell and After Powell. While ...

Video: Bud Powell in Color

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 22, 2023

On July 13, 1960, pianist Bud Powell performed at the Antibes Jazz Festival on the French Riviera. His on-camera solo recording of Sweet and Lovely and Swing Napoli have been colorized, giving Powell and his playing a new, more vivid dimension. Two notes of interest. Powell didn't sit straight on a the piano but off to the side. He also rarely looked at the keyboard, which is remarkable. Here's Bud Powell in color in 1960... And here's Powell with Charles ...
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Al Haig and Bud Powell

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 18, 2023

Yesterday, I posted about Al Haig playing on early bebop recordings in New York with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Which begs the question, did Haig conceive of his style on his own or was he influenced by other New York jazz pianists besides Art Tatum? The answer is a little of both. As Carl Woideck, author of Charlie Parker: His Music and Life, noted in an email after yesterday's post, “The early history of bebop piano is a challenge ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Bud Powell

Source: Michael Ricci
September 27, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Bud Powell's birthday today!

Bud Powell is generally considered to be the most important pianist in the history of jazz. Noted jazz writer and critic Gary Giddins, in Visions of Jazz, goes even further, saying that “Powell will be recognized as one of the most formidable creators of piano music in any time or idiom." His first recordings were made in 1944, when he was a 20 year old pianist in the Cootie Williams Band, ...
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YouTubers Dig Bud Powell

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 12, 2022

To the average ear, Bud Powell's piano playing seems impossible to duplicate. And yet, hundreds of jazz students each year make transcriptions of his bebop recordings and take a shot. As part of my ongoing series on musicians playing favorite jazz musicians' pieces on YouTube, today here are a bunch (along with one older gentleman and a famed woman) playing the music of the pianist: Here's Ellie playing Powell's Celia... Here's Michael Feldman playing Strictly Confidential... Here's Jun Satsuma playing ...
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Six Videos of Bud Powell

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 6, 2022

Following my post yesterday on Bud Powell in Stockholm and Oslo in 1962, I thought I'd share videos of Powell in action for those readers who are curious and for those who need a refreshing reminder of Powell's brilliance and singularity. As you'll notice, one of the most remarkable things about Powell is how rarely he looked at his hands on the keyboard, despite what he was commanding them to do. It's as if he's his own audience. As for ...
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Bud Powell: Stockholm and Oslo, 1962

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 5, 2022

Sixty years ago this week, during the first week of 1962, Bud Powell was in Paris stealing drinks. As author Peter Pullman writes in his biography, Wail: The Life of Bud Powell, the pianist was at the Blue Note resorting to an old bar trick. Between sets, he'd quietly approach someone else's drink, stealthily snatch the glass off a table, down its contents and return the glass to where it had stood. Then Powell would move on. Except on one ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Bud Powell

Source: Michael Ricci
September 27, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Bud Powell's birthday today!

Bud Powell is generally considered to be the most important pianist in the history of jazz. Noted jazz writer and critic Gary Giddins, in Visions of Jazz, goes even further, saying that “Powell will be recognized as one of the most formidable creators of piano music in any time or idiom." His first recordings were made in 1944, when he was a 20 year old pianist in the Cootie Williams Band, ...
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Bud Powell: 1962 Copenhagen

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 31, 2021

In 1959, pianist Bud Powell moved from New York to Paris. The exact reason for the relocation isn't clear, though the likely explanations include the ability to play more frequently in a city of adoring fans and boost his income, a chance to relax and seek medical help for his depression and diagnosed schizophrenia, the ability to avoid physical run-ins with the police over his odd behavior, and to escape the crush of American racism. By early 1962, Powell was ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Bud Powell

Source: Michael Ricci
September 27, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Bud Powell's birthday today!

Bud Powell is generally considered to be the most important pianist in the history of jazz. Noted jazz writer and critic Gary Giddins, in Visions of Jazz, goes even further, saying that “Powell will be recognized as one of the most formidable creators of piano music in any time or idiom." His first recordings were made in 1944, when he was a 20 year old pianist in the Cootie Williams Band, ...
read more

Frech Doc: Bud Powell

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 31, 2020

To fully feel the beauty and grace of jazz at its highest level, you must appreciate the sadness that comes with the joy and the poetry that's baked into the music's history. They are one, like two sides of a coin. Virtually all of the exceptional jazz musicians had tragic sides, making one wonder whether greatness was even possible without the demons and deep sadness. Yesterday, Matt LeGrouix sent along a link to a stunning French documentary on Bud Powell ...
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