Powell Bud, born Earl Powell, *27 September 1924, New York, †1 August 1966, New York, American pianist and jazz composer. His grandfather, father, and brothers were musicians (his younger brother, Richie, played in the bands of M. Roach and C. Brown, and died in a car accident in 1956). He began studying piano at the age of six, continuing for seven years. In 1940, he began frequenting Minton’s Playhouse, where, thanks to the help of T. Monk, he was introduced to the elite circle of bebop musicians. In 1943–44, he played with C. Williams’s swing big band. In 1945, he was arrested and beaten by the police in Philadelphia, during a racial incident, which was probably the cause of his first nervous breakdown. Throughout his life, he struggled with mental health issues (he was hospitalized many times) and addiction to drugs and alcohol, which had a destructive effect on his personality and the quality of his music. At the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, he performed in New York with leading bebop artists (C. Parker, D. Gillespie, M. Roach), as well as with his own trio. In 1953, together with Parker, Roach, Gillespie, and Mingus, he performed at Massey Hall in Toronto (Jazz at Massey Hall, 2 albums). In 1959, he moved to Paris, where he led a trio with K. Clarke and P. Michelot until 1962. During this time (1960), he also performed with O. Pettiford in Germany and played with C. Mingus at the Antibes Jazz Festival. In 1962 he gave concerts in Stockholm and Copenhagen. In 1964, he returned to the United States, but due to health problems, he appeared on stage only sporadically. In 1965, after an unsuccessful concert at Carnegie Hall, he finally retired from musical life.
Powell, alongside T. Monk, is considered the most important pianist of early bebop and a co-creator of modern jazz piano. Initially, he modeled his playing on B. Kyle (pianist in J. Kirby’s sextet) and drew stylistic influences from E. Hines, A. Tatum, T. Wilson, and Nat “King” Cole. Later, he began to incorporate the achievements of Monk and Parker into his music. Just as Hines once translated Armstrong’s “trumpet style” to the piano, Powell successfully adapted Parker’s linear approach. In compositions at moderate and fast tempos, he played long, complex melodic lines full of unexpected turns, usually maintained in a steady stream of eighth notes, against which he juxtaposed irregular (and often dissonant) chords or dyads. By forgoing the realization of harmony in the left hand, he gained greater melodic and expressive freedom. This style of playing was widely imitated by many other bebop pianists. In ballad-style pieces, Powell became a lyrical, expressive performer, drawing on the approaches of Hines and Tatum. His talent blossomed at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, when he impressed with his technique and ingenuity in improvised parts. Between 1949 and 1951, he made a series of recordings with a rhythm section (R. Brown, B. Rich), later released by Verve (The Genius of Bud Powell), which are considered the pinnacle of jazz piano of that period. His abilities at that time are also well illustrated by his recordings for Blue Note (1949–53), including those with F. Navarro and S. Rollins, released as a multi-disc set entitled The Amazing Bud Powell, sessions with Parker’s band (1947), and tracks recorded with S. Stitt, J.J. Johnson, C. Russell, and M. Roach in 1949. After 1953, the level of his playing declined rapidly, and health and personal problems prevented him from returning to his former form. He was also a talented composer, author of such pieces as Hallucinations (song recorded in 1947 by M. Davis’ nonet titled [also] Budo) and, recorded in 1949, Dance of the Infidels, Bouncing with Bud, Tempus Fugue-it (also known as Tempus Fugit), Un Poco Loco, and The Glass Enclosure (1953). Powell’s style had a significant influence on the music of many later pianists, including H. Silver, W. Kelly, B. Evans, M. Tyner, H. Hancock, and C. Corea.
