Bud Powell (1924-1966)

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a jazz giant in his centenary year: the amazing Bud Powell, in the company of Powell's biographer Peter Pullman. Focusing on Bud Powell as a performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as spontaneous composition.

Bud Powell was born in 1924 and grew up in Harlem, against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a gifted pianist from a young age and became a pioneer of bebop. But he was a troubled soul and the great paradox of Bud Powell is how there could be such joy and expression in his music while his life was so painful.

Today Kate Molleson and Peter Pullman look at Powell's early years in the creative crucible of Harlem 1920s and 30s, his first recordings with the Cootie Williams band and a violent arrest in 1945 that would have long-lasting consequences.

Peter Pullman's deeply researched biography of Bud Powell is called Wail: the Life of Bud Powell.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Composer of the Week.

Music featured:

Bouncing with Bud (from The Amazing Bud Powell)

Oblivion (from The Genius of Bud Powell)

Strictly Confidential (from Jazz Giant)

Floogie Boo (from Cootie Williams and his Orchestra 1941-1944)

Do Some War Work, Baby (from Cootie Williams and his Orchestra 1941-1944)

Off Minor (from Bud Powell Trio)

Dexter Rides Again (from Dexter Rides Again)

Mad Bebop (from JJ Johnson's Jazz Quintet)

Buzzy (from Charlie Parker, the Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes)

Bud's Bubble (from Bud Powell Trio)

I Should Care (from Bud Powell Trio)

Tempus Fugit (from Jazz Giant)

Celia (from Jazz Giant)

Kate Molleson explores the life and work of the amazing Bud Powell.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

Kate Molleson is joined by biographer Peter Pullman to explore the life and work of the amazing Bud Powell.

[LISTEN NOW]

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a jazz giant in his centenary year: the amazing Bud Powell, in the company of Powell's biographer Peter Pullman. Focusing on Bud Powell as a performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as spontaneous composition.

Bud Powell was born in 1924 and grew up in Harlem, against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a gifted pianist from a young age and became a pioneer of bebop. But he was a troubled soul and the great paradox of Bud Powell is how there could be such joy and expression in his music while his life was so painful.

Today Kate Molleson and Peter Pullman explore the period of Powell's arrest alongside Thelonious Monk in 1951, and his subsequent psychiatric incarceration. In December 1952, the Birdland club in New York City managed to secure two days release for Powell in order for him to give concerts with his trio. They had to promise to have him back the moment he'd played his last note. He was actually escorted to the piano by hospital staff, who stood on either side of the stage for the entirety of the sets and promptly whisked him away at the end of the night. An awful image – and the start of Powell being considered incapacitated and being variously cared for, controlled and downright abused.

Peter Pullman's deeply researched biography of Bud Powell is called Wail: the Life of Bud Powell.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Composer of the Week.

Music featured:

Un Poco Loco (from the Amazing Bud Powell)

Over the Rainbow (from the Amazing Bud Powell)

A Night in Tunisia (from the Amazing Bud Powell)

Dance of the Infidels (from the Amazing Bud Powell)

So Sorry Please (from Jazz Giant)

Glass Enclosure (from the Amazing Bud Powell, vol 2)

Lullaby of Birdland (from Inner Fires)

Sure Thing (from Inner Fires)

Parisian Thoroughfare (from the Genius of Bud Powell)

Polka Dots and Moonbeams (from the Amazing Bud Powell, vol 2)

Hallelujah (from Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings)

Hot House (from Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings)

Exploring Bud Powell's 1951 arrest and the period of incaceration that followed.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

Exploring Bud Powell's arrest alongside Thelonious Monk in 1951 and the period of incaceration that followed.

Today Kate Molleson and Peter Pullman explore the period of Powell's arrest alongside Thelonious Monk in 1951, and his subsequent psychiatric incarceration. In December 1952, the Birdland club in New York City managed to secure two days' release for Powell in order for him to give concerts with his trio. They had to promise to have him back the moment he'd played his last note. He was actually escorted to the piano by hospital staff, who stood on either side of the stage for the entirety of the sets and promptly whisked him away at the end of the night. An awful image – and the start of Powell being considered incapacitated and being variously cared for, controlled and downright abused.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: “Ask BBC Sounds to play Composer of the Week.”

[LISTEN NOW]

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a jazz giant in his centenary year: the amazing Bud Powell, in the company of Powell's biographer Peter Pullman. Focusing on Bud Powell as a performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as spontaneous composition.

Bud Powell was born in 1924 and grew up in Harlem, against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a gifted pianist from a young age and became a pioneer of bebop. But he was a troubled soul and the great paradox of Bud Powell is how there could be such joy and expression in his music while his life was so painful.

Today Kate Molleson and Peter Pullman explore Bud Powell in the 1950s, a period in which, while still prolific, he was perceived to be someone in decline. It emphasises the brevity of his glory years: he was in his early 30s. During this period his friend and sometime adversary Charlie Parker died. Theirs had been a confounding relationship. Their last appearance together had been a shambles. Powell was in a mess and kept disappearing, to the point that Parker took to the microphone and called his name plaintively: “Bud Powell. Bud Powell.”

Peter Pullman's deeply researched biography of Bud Powell is called Wail: the Life of Bud Powell.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: “Ask BBC Sounds to play Composer of the Week.”

Music featured:

Willow Grove (from Piano Interpretations by Bud Powell)

Nice Work If You Can Get It (from Bud Powell Trio)

Elegy (from Blues in the Closet)

Blues for Bessie (from Strictly Powell)

Ornithology (from the Amazing Bud Powell)

Bud on Bach (from the Amazing Bud Powell, vol 3)

Buster Rides Again (from the Amazing Bud Powell, vol 4)

John's Abbey (from the Amazing Bud Powell, vol 4)

Cleopatra's Dream (from The Scene Changes)

Getting There (from The Scene Changes)

Following Bud Powell into the late 1950s.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

Kate Molleson and biographer Peter Pullman follow Bud Powell into the late 1950s.

[LISTEN NOW]

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a jazz giant in his centenary year: the amazing Bud Powell, in the company of Powell's biographer Peter Pullman. Focusing on Bud Powell as a performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as spontaneous composition.

Bud Powell was born in 1924 and grew up in Harlem, against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a gifted pianist from a young age and became a pioneer of bebop. But he was a troubled soul and the great paradox of Bud Powell is how there could be such joy and expression in his music while his life was so painful.

Today Kate Molleson and Peter Pullman follow Bud Powell to Paris where he and his partner Altevia Edwards moved in 1959. We can catch a glimpse of him in this period in films. One of them a vibrant performance with Charles Mingus; another an objectifying art film made by Danish fans; a third came decades later, with the fictionalised movie Round Midnight, in which the Powell character was played by his old friend Dexter Gordon. Powell had gone to Paris in search of a fresh start and regular work. For a time he found both with a steady gig at the Blue Note Café in Paris and as part of a trio that went under the name the Three Bosses. Any steadiness in his life was, however, doomed to be temporary.

Peter Pullman's deeply researched biography of Bud Powell is called Wail: the Life of Bud Powell.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Composer of the Week.

Music featured:

Buttercup (from Bud Powell's Moods)

Round Midnight (from Bud Powell: Live at the Blue Note Café Paris 1961)

How High the Moon / Ornithology (from Live in Lausanne 1962)

Broadway (from Our Man in Paris)

I'll Remember April (from Mingus at Antibes)

I Can't Get Started (from Bud Powell in Paris)

Blues for Bouffemont (from Blues for Bouffemont)

Tracing Bud Powell's move to Paris in 1959.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

Kate Molleson and biographer Peter Pullman trace Bud Powell's move to Paris in 1959, in search of a fresh start and regular work.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: “Ask BBC Sounds to play Composer of the Week.”

[LISTEN NOW]

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a jazz giant in his centenary year: the amazing Bud Powell, in the company of Powell's biographer Peter Pullman. Focusing on Bud Powell as a performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as spontaneous composition.

Bud Powell was born in 1924 and grew up in Harlem, against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a gifted pianist from a young age and became a pioneer of bebop. But he was a troubled soul and the great paradox of Bud Powell is how there could be such joy and expression in his music while his life was so painful.

Today Kate Molleson and Peter Pullman discuss Bud Powell's return to New York in 1964. After five years in Paris, Powell's homecoming was heralded with great fanfare. When he walked into Birdland – the jazz club where he'd reigned supreme in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s – he was given a 17-minute standing ovation. This was a mark of respect – a recognition, perhaps, of past, rather than present achievements, of a legacy that would live on beyond his own short life.

Peter Pullman's deeply researched biography of Bud Powell is called Wail: the Life of Bud Powell.

To listen on most smart speakers just say “Ask BBC Sounds to play Composer of the Week.”

Music featured:

All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (from Jazz Giant)

Hallucinations (from The Return of Bud Powell)

If I Loved You (from The Return of Bud Powell)

Thelonius (from A Portrait of Thelonius)

Like Someone in Love (from Ups and Downs)

Bouncing with Bud (Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette, from After the Fall)

Dusk in Sandi (Chick Corea, from Remembering Bud Powell)

Wail (from the Amazing Bud Powell)

Bud Powell return to New York in 1964 was heraldded with great fanfare.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

Kate Molleson is joined by Peter Pullman -- author of Wail: the Life of Bud Powell -- to explore the music of the amazing Bud Powell. Today, Powell returns to New York City.

[LISTEN NOW]

Today Kate Molleson and Peter Pullman discuss Bud Powell's return to New York in 1964. After five years in Paris, Powell's homecoming was heralded with great fanfare. When he walked into Birdland – the jazz club where he'd reigned supreme in the late 40s and early 50s – he was given a 17-minute standing ovation. This was a mark of respect – a recognition, perhaps, of past, rather than present achievements, of a legacy that would live on beyond his own short life.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: “Ask BBC Sounds to play Composer of the Week.”

All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (from Jazz Giant)

Hallucinations (from The Return of Bud Powell)

If I Loved You (from The Return of Bud Powell)

Thelonius (from A Portrait of Thelonius)

Like Someone in Love (from Ups and Downs)

Bouncing with Bud (Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette, from After the Fall)

Dusk in Sandi (Chick Corea, from Remembering Bud Powell)

Wail (from the Amazing Bud Powell)

Bud Powell return to New York in 1964 was heralded with great fanfare.

Kate Molleson and biographer Peter Pullman discuss Bud Powell's return to New York in 1964. After five years in Paris, his homecoming was heralded with great fanfare.

Celia (Phineas Newborn Jr, from Here is Phineas)

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a jazz giant in his centenary year: the amazing Bud Powell, in the company of Powell's biographer Peter Pullman. Focusing on Bud Powell as a performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as spontaneous composition.

Bud Powell was born in 1924 and grew up in Harlem, against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a gifted pianist from a young age and became a pioneer of bebop. But he was a troubled soul and the great paradox of Bud Powell is how there could be such joy and expression in his music while his life was so painful.

Peter Pullman's deeply researched biography of Bud Powell is called Wail: the Life of Bud Powell.

Music featured:

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

[LISTEN NOW]