Saturday, September 29, 2007

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Bud Powell


Artist:Bud Powell

Song:Dance Of The Infidels

Album:The Very Best





Earl "Bud" Powell is one of the all time great jazz pianists and one of the architects of bebop. He was born Sept. 27, 1924 in New York City. He started playing piano at age 7 and was heavily influenced by the great Art Tatum. In the early 40s, he was playing a lot of jam sessions with Thelonious Monk. He was playing in Cootie Williams orchestra in 1945 when he was beaten by police in a racial incident. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital and when he gave his occupation as "pianist & composer", doctors thought he was delusional and he was given shock treatment. Powell would never fully recover from this. This comp is a good intro to his Blue Note recordings of the late 40s. Dance Of The Infidels was recorded in 1949 with Fats Navarro on trumpet, Sonny Rollins on sax, Curly Russell on bass and Art Taylor on drums. Powell moved to Paris in 1959. He continued to be in and out of hospital and died on July 31, 1966 at age 41. Bud Powell's Blue Note recordings are essential. Here's Bud Powell performing Get Happy with drummer Kenny Clarke in Paris 1959.

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