The Amazing Bud Powell
Kate Molleson is joined by biographer Peter Pullman to explore the life and work of the amazing Bud Powell.
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.
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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)
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Music Played
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Bud Powell
Bouncing with Bud
Performer: Bud Powell. Performer: Fats Navarro. Performer: Sonny Rollins. Performer: Tommy Potter. Performer: Roy Haynes.- BLUE NOTE.
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Bud Powell
Oblivion
Performer: Bud Powell.- VERVE.
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Bud Powell
Strictly Confidential
Performer: Bud Powell.- VERVE.
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Cootie Williams
Floogie Boo
Orchestra: Cootie Williams and His Orchestra.- COMPLETE JAZZ SERIES.
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Cootie Williams
Do Some War Work, Baby
Orchestra: Cootie Williams and His Orchestra.- COMPLETE JAZZ SERIES.
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Thelonious Monk
Off Minor
Ensemble: Bud Powell Trio.- Parlophone UK.
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Dexter Gordon
Dexter Rides Again
Ensemble: Dexter Gordon Quintet.- SAVOY.
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J J Johnson
Mad Bebop
Ensemble: JJ Johnson's Jazz Quintet.- SAVOY.
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Charlie Parker
Buzzy
Ensemble: Charlie Parker Quintet.- SAVOY.
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Bud Powell
Bud's Bubble
Ensemble: Bud Powell Trio.- PARLOPHONE UK.
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Bud Powell
I Should Care
Ensemble: Bud Powell Trio.- PARLOPHONE UK.
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Bud Powell
Tempus Fugit
Ensemble: Bud Powell Trio.- VERVE.
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Bud Powell
Celia
Ensemble: Bud Powell Trio.- VERVE.
Broadcast
- Mon 11 Nov 2024 16:0091Èȱ¬ Radio 3
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