Bud Powell
| Bud Powell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Earl Rudolph Powell |
| Born |
September 27, 1924 Harlem, New York, U.S. |
| Died | July 31, 1966 (aged 41) New York |
| Genres | Jazz, bebop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1944–1965 |
| Labels | Roost, Blue Note, Mercury, Norgran, Clef, Verve |
| Associated acts | Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins |
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist, born and raised in Harlem, New York City. Though Thelonious Monk was a close friend and influence, his greatest piano influence was Art Tatum.
Along with Charlie Parker, Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a leading figure in the development of modern jazz, or bebop. His virtuosity led many to call him the Charlie Parker of the piano. Powell was also a composer, and many jazz critics credit his works and his playing as having "greatly extended the range of jazz harmony."
Powell's father was a stride pianist. Powell took to his father's instrument at a very young age, starting on classical-piano lessons at age five. His teacher, hired by his father, was a West Indian man named Rawlins.
But by age ten, Powell also showed interest in the swing-era jazz that could be heard all over the neighborhood. He first appeared in public at a rent party, where he mimicked Fats Waller's playing style. The first jazz composition that he mastered was James P. Johnson's "Carolina Shout".
Bud's older brother, William, played the trumpet, and by age fifteen, Bud was playing in his band. By this time, he had heard on radio Art Tatum, whose overwhelmingly virtuosic piano technique Powell then set out to equal. Bud often sought out opportunities to hear Tatum in local venues. Other neophyte piano talents, Al Tinney and Gerald Wiggins, were also frequent habitués of the venues where Tatum would perform.
Even as an underage youth, Bud often listened to the musically adventurous performances at the Uptown House, an after-hours venue near where he lived. Here, the first stirrings of modernism (bebop) were heard nightly, and where Charlie Parker first appeared as a solo act when he briefly lived in New York.
Thelonious Monk had also played at the Uptown House. When he and Powell met (around 1942) the elder pianist/composer introduced Powell to the circle of bebop musicians that was forming at the venue known as Minton's Playhouse. Monk was resident there, and he presented Powell as his protégé. Their mutual affection grew and Monk became Powell's greatest mentor. For his part, Powell eagerly experimented with Monk's latest ideas on the piano. Monk's composition "In Walked Bud" is an enduring tribute to their time together in Harlem.
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Wikipedia