Bud Powell
The Complete Blue Note & Roost Recordings
Track listing:
Disc 1
1. I’ll Remember April 2:53
2. (Back Home Again In) Indiana 2:45
3. Somebody Loves Me 2:55
4. I Should Care 3:01
5. Bud’s Bubble 2:35
6. Off Minor 2:23
7. Nice Work If You Can Get It 2:20
8. Everything Happens to Me 2:41
9. Bouncing with Bud [Alternate Take #1] 3:05
10. Bouncing with Bud [Alternate Take #2] 3:14
11. Bouncing with Bud 3:03
12. Wail [Alternate Take] 2:42
13. Wail 3:05
14. Dance of the Infidels [Alt. Take] 2:51
15. Dance of the Infidels 2:53
16. 52nd Street Theme 2:49
17. You Go to My Head 3:15
18. Ornithology 2:23
19. Ornithology [Alternate Take] 3:10
20. Un Poco Loco [Alternate Take #1] 3:50
21. Un Poco Loco [Alternate Take #2] 4:31
22. Un Poco Loco 4:44
23. Over the Rainbow 2:56
Disc 2
1. A Night in Tunisia 4:16
2. A Night in Tunisia [Take] 3:52
3. It Could Happen to You [Take] 2:24
4. It Could Happen to You 3:15
5. Parisian Thoroughfare 3:26
6. Autumn in New York 2:55
7. Reets and I 3:22
8. Reets and I [Take] 2:33
9. Sure Thing 2:41
10. Collard Greens and Black Eyed Peas [Alternate Take] 2:12
11. Collard Greens and Black Eyed Peas 3:04
12. Polka Dots and Moonbeams 4:03
13. I Want to Be Happy 2:52
14. Audrey 2:57
15. Glass Enclosure 2:23
16. Embraceable You 2:51
17. Burt Covers Bud 3:06
18. My Heart Stood Still 3:19
19. You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To 2:40
20. Bags’ Groove 2:14
21. My Devotion 3:04
22. Stella by Starlight 2:09
23. Woody ‘N You 3:00
Disc 3
1. Blue Pearl 3:48
2. Blue Pearl [Take] 4:03
3. Keepin’ in the Groove 2:55
4. Some Soul 6:59
5. Frantic Fancies 4:53
6. Bud on Bach 2:31
7. Idaho 5:17
8. Don’t Blame Me 7:32
9. Moose the Mooche 5:46
10. John’s Abbey [Alt. Take] 2:26
11. Sub City [Alt. Take] 2:34
12. Sub City 4:32
13. John’s Abbey [Take] 5:38
14. Buster Rides Again 5:30
Disc 4
1. Dry Soul 6:43
2. Marmalade 4:31
3. Monopoly 4:51
4. Time Waits 5:06
5. Scene Changes 4:04
6. Down With It 4:01
7. Comin’ Up [Take] 5:30
8. Comin’ Up 8:00
9. Duid Deed 5:09
10. Cleopatra’s Dream 4:24
11. Gettin’ There 5:05
12. Crossin’ the Channel 3:32
13. Danceland 3:45
14. Boderick 2:01
15. Like Someone in Love 6:18
Quick quotes:
Rolling Stone (12/29/94-1/12/95, p.180) – “…capture[s] Powell in full bloom as an eager stylist bursting with energy and ideas…”
Entertainment Weekly (11/18/94, p.105) – “…includes the late-1940s sessions that established Powell as a cathartic improviser with unheard-of speed and virtuosity. This four-CD set also has the premier recordings of some of Powell’s arabesque compositional masterpieces…” – Rating: A-
Down Beat (1/95, pp.48-50) – 5 Stars – Excellent – “…prompts a much-needed rethinking of Bud Powell’s central role in jazz’s evolution….Powell’s compositions should be regularly celebrated.”
Jazziz (2/95, p.94) – “…easily the most consistent [Bud Powell box set]. Powell never sounded better than on his 1947 Roost trio session and during a stunning date with trumpeter Fats Navarro and young tenor Sonny Rollins two years later…”
Album notes:
Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey in 1957 and 1958; CBS Studios, Paris, France on May 23, 1963; WOR Studios, New York, New York between 1947 and 1953.
In commemorating what should have been the pianist’s 70th birthday, Blue Note has followed Verve Records in issuing an epic 4-CD anthology of one of jazz’s greatest innovators. THE COMPLETE BLUE NOTE AND ROOST RECORDINGS covers a ten year period, encompassing all of Powell’s collaborations with producer Alfred Lion (plus those of Teddy Reig and Francis Wolff)–what aficionados consider to be his most consistent body of work.
Bud Powell’s mental and physical health has long been a major component in his mythology, and the Blue Note box is no exception. But for listeners not already saturated in jazz lore, the issue of Powell’s technical decline is overrated. These nine sessions comprise a creative arc most improvisers will never approach–the pianist/composer’s only significant competition was…Bud Powell.
So while there’s nothing quite like the headlong intensity of his 1951 Latin jazz masterpiece “Un Poco Loco,” Powell’s final 1958 Blue Note session with Philly Joe Jones and Sam Jones has plenty of soul and fire (particularly a Monkish “Marmalade”). Taken as a whole, the Blue Note tracks show his sensitivity and harmonic acumen growing ever deeper, even as his sheer technical authority waned and he began resorting to more customary pianistic devices such as block chord voicings. And as sublime ballads like “Embraceable You” prove, his expressive powers generally transcended his chops on a given day.
Album review:
Although pianist Bud Powell recorded some great albums elsewhere (most notably his first couple of sessions for Verve), on the whole his Blue Note records were his most significant and definitive. This four-CD set has all of the music from his five Blue Note albums, his two sessions for the Roost label, and all known alternate takes. Powell literally changed the way that the piano is played in jazz, and this magnificent set has more than its share of classics. In addition to the many trio performances, trombonist Curtis Fuller sits in on three numbers, there are a few solo cuts, and one date features Powell at the head of a quintet with trumpeter Fats Navarro and the young tenor Sonny Rollins. Although there are a few faltering moments in the later dates, this essential release (unlike the similar Verve reissue) is quite consistent.
Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Musicians:
Bud Powell (piano).
Disc 1, tracks 1-8:
Curly Russel (bass); Max Roach (drums).
Recorded in New York City, January 10, 1947.
Disc 1, tracks 9-16:
Fats Navarro (trumpet); Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Tommy Potter (bass); Roy Haynes (drums).
Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City, August 8, 1949.
Disc 1, tracks 17-19:
Tommy Potter (bass); Roy Haynes (drums).
Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City, August 8, 1949.
Disc 1, tracks 20-23 & disc 2, tracks 1-5:
Curly Russel (bass); Max Roach (drums) except tracks 23, 3 & 4 are solo pianos.
Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City, May 1, 1951.
Disc 2, tracks 6-15:
George Duvivier (bass); Art Taylor (drums).
Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City, August 14, 1953.
Disc 2, tracks 16-23:
George Duvivier (bass); Art Taylor (drums) except track 22 is solo piano.
Recorded in New York City, September, 1953.
Disc 3, tracks 1-9:
Curtis Fuller (7-9) (trombone); Paul Chambers (bass); Art Taylor (drums) except track 6 is solo piano.
Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on August 3, 1957.
Disc 3, tracks 10-14 & Disc 4, tracks 1-4:
Sam Jones (bass); “Philly” Joe Jones (drums).
Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on May 24, 1958.
Disc 4, tracks 5-14:
Paul Chambers (bass); Art Taylor (drums).
Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on December 29, 1958.
Disc 4, tracks 15:
Pierre Michelot (bass); Kenny Clarke (drums).
Recorded at the CBS Studios, Paris on May 23, 1963.