Bud Powell in Pris

A surprising Bud Powell album for Reprise Records - and one of the label's hippest jazz titles ever! When Frank Sinatra first started up the Reprise imprint, he let Duke Ellington do a bit of A&R for the jazz division - and one of the first things Ellington did was capture the great Bud Powell in his then-local setting of Paris - in this rough edgey session that turned out to be one of Powell's last albums, and one of his best from the 60s. The record is nothing fancy on the outside - just simple piano trio versions of jazz standards like "Parisian Thoroughfare", "I Can't Get Started", "Jordu", and "Dear Old Stockholm" - but Powell's dark genius turns the tracks into jagged little razors, cutting with an emotional depth that's quite surprising. Duke Ellington produced - and trio members include Gilbert Rovere on bass and Carl Fields on drums.

Ethan Iverson - Bud Powell In The 21st Century (2021) {Sunnyside SSC 1619}
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Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Big Band / Piano

Given that he was one of the primary architects of bebop—revered by Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Don Cherry, and so many others—it’s surprising to note that the piano giant Bud Powell only led one session with horns. On August 9, 1949, he, trumpeter Fats Navarro, tenor saxophonist Rollins, bassist Tommy Potter, and drummer Roy Haynes cut four tunes at WOR Studios in New York: Thelonious Monk’s “52nd Street Theme,” and Powell’s originals “Bouncing with Bud,” “Dance of the Infidels,” and “Wail.” Decades later, this session caught the ears of pianist, scholar, and JazzTimes columnist Ethan Iverson.

One of the giants of the jazz piano, Bud Powell changed the way that virtually all post-swing pianists play their instruments. He did away with the left-hand striding that had been considered essential earlier and used his left hand to state chords on an irregular basis. His right often played speedy single-note lines, essentially transforming Charlie Parker's vocabulary to the piano (although he developed parallel to "Bird")…

This CD reissue is one of the most rewarding Bud Powell recordings to come from his period in France. Powell (along with bassist Pierre Michelot and drummer Kenny Clarke) explores four of Thelonious Monk's tunes, Earl Bostic's "No Name Blues" and the standard "There Will Never Be Another You" but it is the final two numbers ("I Ain't Foolin'" and "Squatty") which really find the bop master at his most spirited and swinging. This very rewarding CD releases for the first time the alternate take (a faster rendition without a clear melody) of "Squatty," a song that (based on its original version) deserves to be revived. One oddity: the applause heard throughout this release was added on later because this was actually a studio album.

The effects of the bebop revolution in jazz music are still being felt and explored. Of the half dozen true pioneers of the movement, pianist Bud Powell has remained somewhat in the shadows, although his work has become a major touchstone for true devotees of the music and a principal influence for most of jazz’s most explorative pianists.

In the bebop revolution of the 1940’s, as Charlie Parker was the leading voice of the alto saxophone, so was Bud Powell the leading voice of the piano. Recorded in 1956 (before his Paris sojourn), the long-unavailable Blues in the Closet features Powell’s lightning-fast runs and nimble keyboard navigations on a set of originals and well-chosen standards. He is accompanied by Osie Johnson, a solid mainstream drummer, and the dean of jazz bassists, Ray Brown. A must for Powell fans and bop devotees.

With this subtly provocative solo recital, Ted Rosenthal merges three very different streams of piano history, putting his personal stamp on all of them. He pays homage to Bill Evans with "I Loves You Porgy," "Turn out the Stars," and "Waltz for Debby," playing the last in 5/4 but reverting to 4/4 only on his second solo chorus. The Bud Powell portion is more extensive, consisting of "Tempus Fugit," "Wail," "I'll Keep Loving You," "Celia," "Parisian Thoroughfare," and, in another 5/4 interpretation, the closing "Tea for Two." Last but not least, Rosenthal unveils his improvisational approach to Beethoven with the latter two movements of the "Pathetique" sonata, as well as the third movement of "Opus 109," which inspires a full nine minutes of spirited invention. In Rosenthal's hands all this music sounds as though it sprang from the same muse, and that's the sign of a skilled, imaginative artist.