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 to untangle."
Let Carl pick it up from here:
Certainly the early recorded evidence of Bud Powell through 1945 (in both studio recordings and later-released live recordings) is woefully incomplete. They suggest his state of development but don’t establish it. Perhaps the recording that is most illustrative of Powell during this period is Frankie Socolow’s “Reverse the Changes," from May 2, 1945.
That same month—May 11, 1945—Haig recorded those four sides you mentioned yesterday for Guild with Gillespie and Parker. On June 22 of that year, Haig was recorded playing gorgeous bebop live at New York's Town Hall, again with Gillespie and Parker. From December 1945 to December 1946, we have a tremendous amount of documentation of Haig’s modern jazz abilities on recordings.
It wasn’t until January 29, 1946 (the Dexter Gordon Quintet on Savoy) that Powell began recording with his peers. Strikingly, Powell was recorded only once in all of 1945. [Editor's note: This is most likely due to Powell's severe beating at the hands of railroad police in Philadelphia in January 1945 and subsequent incarceration and convalescence.]
I suspect that Powell and Haig (above) listened to and influenced one another when both were in New York in late 1945. We know that Powell admired Haig. Here's a transcribed interview from 1963 conducted with Powell while he was recuperating from tuberculosis in France:
Q: Bud, you told me that you’ve written a new tune since your arrival at the hospital. Would you please tell me its name and give me an idea of how it goes?
A: I wrote “In the Mood for a Classic." [Bud sings]
Q: Bud, for whom did you compose this piece?
A: I composed it for France in general.
Q: Who are your favorite players?
A: AI Haig. He is my idea of a perfect pianist.
Q: Would you like to mention some other piano players who you admire?
A: I told you Al Haig... well, let me see. On piano I always did like Billy Kyle. Hank Jones.
Q: Bud, who was your piano teacher?
A: Art Tatum.
Q: Have you spent much time with Art Tatum?
A: I don’t know. Art Tatum used to take me out for a drive in his big Lincoln. He had a sky—blue Lincoln. I’ve been in his car.
Q: Who is your favorite composer?
A: Thelonious Monk, one of my favorites from a long time ago. We used to hang out all day and all night at after-hour joints. [Photo above of Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, and possibly Paul Chambers, rear right]
Q: Bud, who are your other favorite musicians apart from pianists—on trumpet and sax?
A: Saxophonist, Johnny Griffin. On trumpet, Miles Davis.
Q: Which bassist do you like?
A: When he was alive, Oscar Pettiford. I like Tommy Potter—he’s a good bassist.
Q: Who are your favorite accompanists?
A: Max Roach. And Ray Brown.
And speaking of young musicians who applied the bebop vocabulary to the piano, we haven't even touched on George Wallington, who was gigging with Dizzy Gillespie in 1944..
[Editor's note: Or the influence that Wallington, Thelonious Monk and Clyde Hart may have had on both Powell and Haig, as all of these musicians interacted in New York.]
For example:
Here's Monk in October 1944 with Coleman Hawkins (ts), Bass Robinson (b) and Denzil Best (d)...
Here's Clyde Hart in February 1944 with Coleman Hawkins (ts), Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Max Roach (d)...
Let Carl pick it up from here:
Certainly the early recorded evidence of Bud Powell through 1945 (in both studio recordings and later-released live recordings) is woefully incomplete. They suggest his state of development but don’t establish it. Perhaps the recording that is most illustrative of Powell during this period is Frankie Socolow’s “Reverse the Changes," from May 2, 1945.
That same month—May 11, 1945—Haig recorded those four sides you mentioned yesterday for Guild with Gillespie and Parker. On June 22 of that year, Haig was recorded playing gorgeous bebop live at New York's Town Hall, again with Gillespie and Parker. From December 1945 to December 1946, we have a tremendous amount of documentation of Haig’s modern jazz abilities on recordings.
It wasn’t until January 29, 1946 (the Dexter Gordon Quintet on Savoy) that Powell began recording with his peers. Strikingly, Powell was recorded only once in all of 1945. [Editor's note: This is most likely due to Powell's severe beating at the hands of railroad police in Philadelphia in January 1945 and subsequent incarceration and convalescence.]
I suspect that Powell and Haig (above) listened to and influenced one another when both were in New York in late 1945. We know that Powell admired Haig. Here's a transcribed interview from 1963 conducted with Powell while he was recuperating from tuberculosis in France:
Q: Bud, you told me that you’ve written a new tune since your arrival at the hospital. Would you please tell me its name and give me an idea of how it goes?
A: I wrote “In the Mood for a Classic." [Bud sings]
Q: Bud, for whom did you compose this piece?
A: I composed it for France in general.
Q: Who are your favorite players?
A: AI Haig. He is my idea of a perfect pianist.
Q: Would you like to mention some other piano players who you admire?
A: I told you Al Haig... well, let me see. On piano I always did like Billy Kyle. Hank Jones.
Q: Bud, who was your piano teacher?
A: Art Tatum.
Q: Have you spent much time with Art Tatum?
A: I don’t know. Art Tatum used to take me out for a drive in his big Lincoln. He had a sky—blue Lincoln. I’ve been in his car.
Q: Who is your favorite composer?
A: Thelonious Monk, one of my favorites from a long time ago. We used to hang out all day and all night at after-hour joints. [Photo above of Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, and possibly Paul Chambers, rear right]
Q: Bud, who are your other favorite musicians apart from pianists—on trumpet and sax?
A: Saxophonist, Johnny Griffin. On trumpet, Miles Davis.
Q: Which bassist do you like?
A: When he was alive, Oscar Pettiford. I like Tommy Potter—he’s a good bassist.
Q: Who are your favorite accompanists?
A: Max Roach. And Ray Brown.
And speaking of young musicians who applied the bebop vocabulary to the piano, we haven't even touched on George Wallington, who was gigging with Dizzy Gillespie in 1944..
[Editor's note: Or the influence that Wallington, Thelonious Monk and Clyde Hart may have had on both Powell and Haig, as all of these musicians interacted in New York.]
For example:
Here's Monk in October 1944 with Coleman Hawkins (ts), Bass Robinson (b) and Denzil Best (d)...
Here's Clyde Hart in February 1944 with Coleman Hawkins (ts), Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Max Roach (d)...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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