AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Bud Powell

Artist:Bud Powell

Song:I Want To Be Happy

Album:Jazz Profile

This is another in my series of Jazz Classics for Beginners. The only requirements are a live performance video and a CD that is appropriate for beginners. Pianist Bud Powell is one of the most important figures in the development of modern jazz. He was there at the beginning of bebop in the 40s. His 50s Blue Note recordings is the best place to start. He was born Sept. 27, 1924 in Harlem, NY. His father was a stride pianist. Powell began classical piano lessons at age five. By age 10 he was interested in swing. He mimicked Fats Waller's playing style at a rent party. By age 15 Powell had a band with his older brother William Powell who played trumpet. His younger brother Richie Powell was also a jazz pianist. Powell heard Art Tatum on the radio and tried to match his technique. Powell started going to jazz clubs and that's where he met Thelonious Monk who mentored Powell and introduced him to other musicians. Powell played in several dance bands until he joined Cootie Williams' band in 1944. He made his first recordings with Williams. Then after a Jan. 1945 show in Philadelphia, Powell was apprehended as drunk by the transit police near Broad Street Station. They beat him and Powell was hospitalized for two months. Powell became a popular sideman until Charlie Parker chose him to play piano on a 1947 recording session. Then Powell got into a bar fight and was hit over the head with a bottle. He spent most of 1948 in a psychiatric hospital. Powell started recording in 1949 Blue Note, Mercury, Norgren and Clef. Powell's best known recordings were with Blue Note. I Want To Be Happy is from the 1953 album The Amazing Bud Powell Vol. 2. Musicians are George Duvivier on bass and Art Taylor on drums. I Want To Be Happy was written by Vincent Yeomans and Irving Caesar for the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette. After Benny Goodman and Ella Fitzgerald recorded it in 1937, the song became a jazz standard. After this album, Powell recorded for Verve and RCA. He returned to Blue Note in 1957. This budget comp is a good intro to Powell's Blue Note recordings. Powell moved with his wife and son to Paris in 1959. He recorded a couple of albums for Columbia and one for Reprise, But for the most part, Powell's health got worse from tuberculosis and he died on July 31, 1966 at age 41. Here's Bud Powell with Jean Marie Ingrand on bass Kenny Clarke on drums performing I Want To Be Happy July 1, 1961 at INA TV in Paris, France.