Bud Powell - The Amazing Bud Powell Volume 2
Released - May 1956
WOR Studios, NYC, August 9, 1949
Bud Powell, piano; Tommy Potter, bass; Roy Haynes, drums.
BN364-0 You Go To My Head
BN365-1 Ornithology (alternate master)
WOR Studios, NYC, May 1, 1951
Bud Powell, piano.
BN383-0 Over The Rainbow
BN385-1 It Could Happen To You
WOR Studios, NYC, August 14, 1953
Bud Powell, piano; George Duvivier, bass; Art Taylor, drums.
BN510-6 tk.8 Autumn In New York
BN509-1 tk.9 Reets And I
BN511-2 tk.17 Sure Thing
BN512-2 tk.20 Collard Greens And Black-Eyed Peas
BN513-0 tk.21 Polka Dots And Moonbeams
BN514-1 tk.23 I Want To Be Happy
BN515-0 tk.25 Audrey
BN516-0 tk.27 The Glass Enclosure
Track Listing
| Side One | ||
| Title | Author | Recording Date |
| Reets and I | Bonnie Harris | 14 August 1953 |
| Autumn in New York | Vernon Duke | 14 August 1953 |
| I Want to Be Happy | Vincent Youmans | 14 August 1953 |
| It Could Happen to You | Van Heusen, Burke | 01 May 1951 |
| Sure Thing | Kern, Gershwin | 14 August 1953 |
| Polka Dots and Moonbeams | Van Heusen, Burke | 14 August 1953 |
| Side Two | ||
| Glass Enclosure | Bud Powell | 14 August 1953 |
| Collard Greens and Black-Eyed Peas | Pettiford | 14 August 1953 |
| Over the Rainbow | Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg | 01 May 1951 |
| Audrey | Bud Powell | 14 August 1953 |
| You Go to My Head | J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie | 09 August 1949 |
| Ornithology" (alternate take) | Benny Harris, Charlie Parker | 09 August 1949 |
Credits
Liner Notes |
Between these covers lies the harvest of a journey through the mind of Bud Powell. It is a journey in which beauty and darkness, pleasure and sorrow are to be gleaned along the way; for this mind is a strange land, endowed with a glow of genius yet beset by illness and deprivation.
Bud Powell's career has been an erratic one, gregarious months along 52nd Street alternating with lonely months in the hospital. For all the inconsistency of his march to fame, he has managed to earn the unanimous admiration of his contemporaries and to forge an ineradicable place for himself in the international hall of jazz fame.
Born Earl Powell in New York City on Sept. 27, 1924, he is one of three brothers; Richie Powell, who is a few years older, plays piano with the Max Roach-Clifford Brown combo. Bud gained his early experience playing teen-aged gigs around Manhattan and Brooklyn; some of his earliest jobs were with Valaida Snow and the Sunset Royal Orchestra, and at the late Canada Lee's Chicken Coop.
A frequent denizen of the Play House (better known as Minton's) during its years as an incubator of new jazz talent, Bud first showed signs of an incipient bop style before the word bop itself was coined, as can be confirmed by some early recordings with Cootie Williams' band in 1943-4. During the rest of the 1940s he was a part of that loosely-knit clique of restless souls with something new and exciting to tell the world and few places in which to tell it but the smaller and smokier night clubs and the growing world of combo recording. It was during this period that Bud's rocket-swift, indomitable single-note lines and moody, mordant harmonic inventions made so deep an impression on Alfred Lion of Blue Note that starting in 1949 a series of wonderful recording sessions took place. All of these, in addition to some takes never before issued, have now been made available in Blue Note's first 12-inch Bud Powell LP releases.
BLP 1503
"The Birth Of A Masterpiece" is the title Hollywood would probably give to the fascinating story told by the three takes of Un Poco Loco heard here. The first cut shows the composition at a stage somewhat before Bud has quite settled down to a definitive interpretation; it bogs down. Bud senses it and stops short, just as the driver of a smooth-running limousine might pull up on hearing air escape from a tire. The second take, though more or less complete, still lacks something of the conviction of the third, which is the one originally released on a 78 r.p.m. disc. Un Poco Loco has always been, for me, an indescribably exciting experience and certainly one of Bud's greatest compositions. To hear it as it is presented here is pleasure thrice compounded.
Dance Of The lnfidels opens with a staccato intro by the trumpet of the late Fats Navarro and the tenor sax of Sonny Rollins, mostly in thirds, leading into a theme that makes use of a favorite rhythmic device of bop: the two-bar phrase with a "hesitation" accent before the third beat of the second bar. Bud, Fats and Sonny have solos before the theme, mostly in unison, returns. This piece, incidentally, has not been issued on LP previously.
This is the first at four numbers on BLP 1503 on which Bud has a quintet instead of a trio. The presence of the Immortal Fats Navarro, whose elegance of execution and brilliance of tone and conception made him the nulli secundus trumpet star of his day, lent additional luster to the date. A typical bop combo performance that shows Fats, Sonny and Bud to advantage is 52nd Street Theme. This Monk tune, to which I gave its title when the little groups along that thoroughfare were using it to open and close each set, is mainly a simple two-bar riff, which the participants throw around polytonally, as if for laughs, in the opening chorus.
It Could Happen To You is an alternate master of one of Bud's best ballad interpretations, differing in content though not in mood from the previously released take, and originally rejected only because of a slightly marred ending. The same may be said of the alternate take on A Night in Tunisia, in which Bud's weirdly delayed ending resulted in the decision to make another take (heard on the next track). Wail and Bouncing With Bud, both Powell originals, are both happy tunes with an exultant rhythmic feel throughout.
Ornithology is Bud's version of Charlie Parker's version of How High The Moon, so to speak. The tempo is moderate, the style a melodic single-line groove that might be called a contemporary parallel for Earl Hines' “trumpet style piano." (Just listen and imagine Diz and/or Bird playing those some notes.)
Parisian Thoroughfare is a surprise. Never previously released, it is an earlier incarnation of a number Bud recorded for Norman Granz's Clef label some years later. Its delicate, lacy lines have a pristine charm that differs greatly from the more conventional patterns of the typical wailing Powell originals.
BLP 1504
Reets and l is built on a theme by “Little Bennie“ Harris; it is named for Bennie and his wife. Its foundation is the All God's Children chord pattern. Autumn In New York is a remarkable demonstration of Bud's ability to retain the essence of a popular melody while investing it with his own personality. An interesting departure is Bud's overlapping of the 24th and 25th measures, which has the effect of telescoping the melody into a 31-bar chorus.
In I Want To Be Happy Bud changes the melody slightly on the third and fourth measure to make them fit a diminished chord. George Duvivier, who worked closely with Bud in preparing this date, has a remarkable chorus on his own.
It Could Happen To You shows Bud adopting what might be called the Tatum approach to a ballad, playing it first ad lib, then in tempo, without accompaniment. Bop is a secondary ingredient, chords spell the single-note passages, and Bud is on interestingly neutral ground.
Sure Thing, a 1943 Jerome Kern song, shows remarkable cooperation between Bud and Duvivier; especially on the passages for which Bud's left hand and George's bass line are locked in unison. On Polka Dots And Moonbeams Bud hugs the melody as closely as if he were Garner, while sparking it with that unique incisiveness of touch and perfect timing and placement of right-hand chords that make an unmistakable Powell sound.
Glass Enclosure ranks with Un Poco Loco among Bud's greatest. It was built up from an odd theme that Alfred Lion heard him play one night when visiting his apartment. Greatly impressed, Lion asked what it was. Bud said he had something in mind that he was trying to express; lion repeatedly asked him about it and encouraged him to continue. A few days later he heard the idea further advanced; by the next time, Powell had worked out the pattern and Duvivier put the parts down in writing. Glass Enclosure is more or less in four movements: the first somewhat maestoso, the next a swinging fragment on two 10-bar phrases; then a pensive yet flowing movement with a stirring bowed-bass underline, followed by a reminder of the first movement.
Oscar Pettiford's Collard Greens and Black-Eye Peas (also known as Blues In The Closet) is some swinging ad-lib blues with Bud, Duvivier and drummer Art Taylor all featured. Over The Rainbow and You Go To My Head are patterned along similar lines to the other ballads; Audrey is a trickily constructed 12-bar original. Finally Ornithology offers a longer, slower take that provides a most intriguing contrast with the largely different improvisation around these chords on BLP 1503.
-LEONARD FEATHER
(Author of The Encyclopedia of Jazz)
Photo by FRANCIS WOLFF
Cover Design by JOHN HERMANSADER
Recording by RUDY VAN GELDER
RVG CD Reissue Liner Notes
Bud Powell made his Initial impact on record in support of horn players such as Cootie Williams, Dexter Gordon, J.J. Johnson, Sonny Stitt and Charlie Parker. Once the chance to record under his own name arose, he also displayed exceptional skill in occasional performances (and one entire 1951 session for producer Norman Granz) as a solo pianist. It is in the context of the piano trio with bass and drum accompaniment, however, that what we think of as the Bud Powell sound came to be defined. For that reason the present collection, which contains one of Powell’s best trio sessions with five previously unissued performances, is among the key volumes in the pianist’s discography.
Earl “Bud” Powell was born on September 27, 1924 in New York City. A child prodigy, he spent seven years studying the European composers, and retained a particular interest in Bach that frequently marked his mature work. He also developed an early fascination for jazz, and from the age of ten was taken to jam sessions to display his precocious ability. John Kirby Sextet pianist Billy Kyle and Art Tatum were among his earliest influences.
At 15, Powell dropped out of school and became a professional musician. Soon he had gravitated to the now-legendary after-hours sessions at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem, where he met and was befriended by the then-unknown Thelonious Monk, who encouraged the shy, withdrawn young pianist to immerse himself fully in the innovative action. Powell made his recording debut with Cootie Williams in 1944; while still working with the trumpeter the following year, he was arrested in Philadelphia for disorderly conduct and beaten on the head. He then spent several months in a Long Island hospital, and was considered erratic from that point forward.
Back in New York in 1946 and early 1947, Powell established himself as the premier pianist of the new jazz generation. Then a period of two years followed when he did not enter a recording studio. Much of this time was spent in Creedmore Sanitarium, where Powell was given shock treatments. He emerged again in 1949 and made more excellent recordings, including the August 1949 Modernists session that marked the beginning of his association with Blue Note, and a second date for the label in 1951 that included his most famous composition, “Un Poco Loco.” Both sessions, in their entirety, are included on The Amazing Bud Powell Volume 1 BLP1503.
An especially harrowing period followed. Powell was arrested for possession of narcotics - the bust also led to the loss of Thelonious Monk’s cabaret card when Monk refused to testify that the drugs were Powell’s — and then institutionalized for 17 consecutive months. When he was released in 1953, it was under a custodial arrangement that found Birdland manager Oscar Goodstein acting both as Powell’s employer and legal guardian. The arrangement was flexible enough to allow the pianist to travel to Toronto, where he participated in the legendary Jazz at Massey Hall concert with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus and Max Roach on May 15; but for much of the period, Powell was kept in an East Side apartment under what has been described as virtual house arrest to ensure his nightly appearance at Bird land.
A more positive result of the Birdland gig was the formation of a working Bud Powell trio. In its most frequent incarnation, it included bassist George Duvivier, who had contributed arrangements to the Jimmie Lunceford band and toured most famously with Lena Horne and drummer Arthur Taylor, one of a coterie of young Harlemites (Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean were others) who had worshipped Powell as teenagers only a few years earlier. This most compatible unit existed on and off until 1957 and recorded for four other labels; if not the definitive Powell threesome, it is easily the most familiar. This is its first and best session, with special credit due Duvivier for the arrangements. The eight master takes originally appeared as the 10" LP that bears the same title as the present volume.
Recording logs indicate that all of the alternate takes produced at this session were considered potential choices for initial release. The first alternate of “Autumn In New York,” for example, was originally preferred, then rejected because of its brevity. Both the subsequent second alternate and the master extend the introduction and add a final half-chorus. Alternate number two is the sunniest performance, while the master is delivered with the greatest panache. All three takes feature ingenious counterpoint from piano and plucked bass, with Taylor occasionally joining in; and all three omit the 24th bar of the composition, creating what original annotator Leonard Feather described as a “telescoped” 31-bar chorus.
We now also have three issued takes of “Reets And I,” trumpeter Benny Harris’s melody on the chord changes of “All God’s Children Got Rhythm.” The master was cut first, and is taken at the slowest pace; the subsequent first alternate is the fastest, and the previously unissued second alternate splits the difference tempo-wise while containing an additional blowing chorus. This smoother, safer final version was initially slated for release, only to be replaced by the edgier earliest take.
Jerome Kern’s “Sure Thing” is so heavily ornamented that producer Alfred Lion referred to the piece as “Bud’s Sure Thing” in the original session notes. The complex turns of the extended unison passages reveal Powell’s continued interest in the Baroque. The choice here between the previously unissued alternate and the subsequently recorded master is more obvious, given the whirlwind execution and stronger piano solo on the latter take.
“Collard Greens And Black-Eyed Peas” is a riff blues by bassist Oscar Pettiford that Powell recorded again in 1956 (with Ray Brown and Osie Johnson) under its more familiar title, "Blues In The Closet." The alternate take was recorded first and, though acceptable in terms of the quality of its piano and bass solos, is extremely brief. The subsequent master take is nearly a minute longer, and adds Duviviers eight-bar introduction as well as two choruses of tours between Powell and Taylor.
“PoIka Dots And Moonbeams,” with its brooding voicings and deliberate tempo, introduces a ballad concept that seems to mirror Powell’s darker moods. The approach produced some particularly desultory performances soon enough, including a remake of “Polka Dots” by this same trio a month later that was issued by Fantasy. Here, enough vibrancy remains in Powell’s attack to transcend the encroaching gloom.
Things brighten appreciably with the medium-tempo swinger "I Want To Be Happy. Powell turns in his most relaxed work of the session, Taylor gives an early example of his mastery with brushes, and Duvivier’s great sound and note choices are heard to excellent effect behind the piano and in solo. As is the case on “Collard Greens” and the next track, Duvivier’s chorus here is enhanced by Powell’s almost conversational comping.
“Audrey” is a Powell original constructed of foreshortened phrases that yield a standard blues chorus for the piano and bass solos. Powell is inventive, and at certain moments dazzling; but there is a nervous fragmented quality to his solo that would become the norm as his mental health deteriorated.
“Glass Enclosure” is the most complex and majestic of Powell's compositions. lt began as a fragment that producer Lion heard on a visit to Powell in the apartment where he was kept, and was ultimately titled in reference to that prison-like environment. The bold opening with its strong classical echos leads to a stop-time melody that is stated twice; then a reflective interlude featuring Duviviers bowed bass is heard before the original theme returns. There are few performances as emotional or original in all of jazz.
A ninth title from the session, the previously unìssued “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,’ concludes the program. Powell had performed the piece at Massey Hall in a trio set with Mingus and Roach that was issued on Debut. This version features a Latin beat from Taylor, and a hint in the brief unaccompanied interlude of Powell’s enduring affection for Art Tatum.
—Bob Blumenthal. 2001
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