Classic Recordings, The Amazing Bud Powell Volumes 1 & 2

The sessions that constitute volumes 1 & 2 of The Amazing Bud Powell were cut between 1949 and 1953, and arguably form the finest recordings Powell made in his short, troubled life, as well as standing proudly amongst the most definitive examples of bebop piano. Seventy years on, the profusion of ideas flowing from Powell’s fingers on these records, whether it be a bebop standard like ‘A Night in Tunisia’ or on his own idiosyncratic compositions, sound completely fresh. And in the same way that first exposure to Charlie Parker can be a little overwhelming, with attentive listening Powell’s music will yield a plethora of musical riches.

Born in Harlem in 1924, Earl ‘Bud’ Powell’s father was a jobbing stride pianist, so the young Bud was surrounded by music and musicians from the start. Taking classical piano lessons from the age of five, Powell was appearing at ‘rent parties’ by the time he was ten, imitating the styles of his heroes Art Tatum and Fats Waller. At fifteen he joined his older brother William’s band (a trumpeter and violinist) and was regularly visiting jazz clubs like Uptown House and Minton’s Playhouse during bebop’s formative years, witnessing Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Haynes. It was in this period that he met his friend Thelonious Monk, seven years his senior, and who became something of a mentor to Powell. It is testament to the fertility of the scene that these two close friends should develop such contrasting styles; where Monk could often be willfully obtuse, deliberately incorporating rhythms and harmonies that could sound jarring, Powell was much more concerned with the free flow of ideas in the heat of the moment, and as such was more in line with the energetic innovations of Charlie Parker and the other beboppers.

The first session on volume one from August 9th, 1949, finds Powell in the company of a bebop dream team; Fats Navarro (trumpet), Tommy Porter (bass), Roy Haynes (drums), plus a 19-year-old Sonny Rollins. Tracks like ‘Dance of the Infidels’, ‘52nd Street Theme’ and ‘Bouncing With Bud’ are some of the most exciting full-band recordings of Powell’s career, and bebop in general. We get to witness Navarro’s brilliant technique, a player whose lyricism and dexterity was of a distinctly different flavour from Dizzy Gillespie’s pyrotechnics. On uptempo numbers like ‘Wail’, Rollins is already identifiable as the same player who would later record ‘Saxophone Colossus', so masterly was his command of the instrument even at this early stage. Ultimately though, it’s Powell who draws our attention, hypnotising through those dazzling right-hand single-note runs, with sparing punctuation from the left-hand, as on ‘Parisian Thoroughfare’ or ‘Bouncing with Bud’. Fusing the speed and dexterity of Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson with the future-shock abstraction bop, his influence can be heard in countless pianists who followed, Lennie Tristano, Oscar Peterson, and Herbie Hancock to name but a few.

These were some of the first recordings to really capture bebop in half-decent fidelity. Where the early bop sessions suffer from rough sound quality, with the drums in particular often relegated to a muffled blur, these sessions benefit enormously from the clear sound achieved by Blue Note’s recording engineer at the time, Doug Hawkins. For the first time listeners were able to hear what cutting-edge drummers like Max Roach, Roy Haynes and Art Taylor were actually doing on their kits, and Powell’s piano is nicely balanced within the overall sound field.

Volume 1 also includes a 1951 trio session with Max Roach (drums) and Curly Russel (bass), the highlight of which is Powell’s own ‘Un Poco Loco’, which has become one of his best-known compositions. The title translates as ‘a little crazy’, most likely reflecting the delicate state of Powell’s mental health in the period (as would other titles like ‘Hallucinations’). Roach’s insistent cowbell rhythms drive the music forward as Powell improvises around a scale rather than a series of chords, obsessively exploring the theme from multiple perspectives. There are three takes of this brilliant tune, all with their own quirks that make it worth getting to know them all.

Powell’s life was dogged by mental health issues, which many believe to have stemmed from a shocking incident of police brutality in 1945. Whilst on tour with his brother’s band, the 20-year-old Powell was severely beaten around the head and then imprisoned by the Philadelphia police - allegedly for being drunk and disorderly, but this has since been disputed as fabrication on the part of the police. The incident left Powell incoherent and in need of hospitalisation, and the rest of his life was spent in and out of various institutions. It seems inconceivable that the ebullient spirit we encounter on the first 1949 session on volume 1 had undergone a futile series of electro-shock therapy just weeks earlier. His friend Jackie McLean commented that ‘He was so messed up when he came out… I think they experimented on Bud’.

The Amazing Bud Powell Vol. 2 focuses primarily on a fruitful 1952 trio session with George Duvivier (bass) and Art Taylor (drums). A highlight of the set is the surreal Powell original Glass Enclosure, which hints at a classical music influence in the main theme, the bowed contributions from Duvivier’s bass adding orchestral colours. There’s a discreet Bach influence to ‘Sure Thing’ as well, echoing some of Dave Brubeck’s experiments from later in the same decade.