Customer Reviews

Amazing Bud Powell 2

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Near half a century has passed since Bud Powell,George Duvivier and Art Taylor recorded this outstanding session of pure bop, and it's incredible.The music is always as fresh,surprising,and as passionnate as if it had just been played.This music will never be old.The great Rudy Van Gelder remastered the tracks for this new edition,and for the first time,the tunes appear in the order of the recording session.There are a lot of alternate tracks and unissued tracks.And great tunes : beautiful standards like "autumn in New York","I've got you under my skin",Oscar Pettiford's blues "collard greens and blackeyed peas",Little Benny Harris' "Reets and I", and Bud's own compositions,including the famous "glass enclosure",and the beautiful "Audrey".As a child,Bud was fascinated by Bach's music,and this is obvious in his playing.Too bad he never had the opportunity of recording Bach's repertoire,Glenn Gould would have been frightened ! What is there more to say about this album ? That it's one of the most important in the history of jazz ? Yes,of course.Bud was at his best at that time, and mastered all kinds of playing : fast boppish tunes, and very slow tempos on ballads.This is a record you'll play again and again.

With all due respect to critics like Stuart Broomer (who wrote the review for Amazon), this legendary Blue Note set is not "late" Powell (the use of the word assumes that his career ended around the time of this recording, which is false; Powell continued to pioneer his sound up until his death in 1965), nor are Powell's much-ballyhooed mental and health problems so important in evaluating this music. As Carl Smith wrote in his "Bouncing with Bud: All the recordings of Bud Powell", this is Powell "at a crossroads between the early and the late, with most of the strengths of both periods"---consciously transforming, experimenting and evolving. The quicksilver bop Bud Powell of the early Verve and Roost sessions is long gone. "Un Poco Loco" is an extremely advanced number that is modern by today's standards. "Glass Enclosure" is a near-classical composition. There is also a subtle and by-design paring-down/focus of style beginning here. You can hear how Bud begins to play fewer, and different (but still right)notes even in his most fleeting solos. I am less enamored of Powell's overly ornate and almost schmaltz treatment of "Autumn In New York" and "Over the Rainbow", regardless of the wonderful playing that can be compared to Art Tatum (this is a personal opinion). "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" is fine, but this brighter, more regular treatment is not as interesting as the version recorded by Prestige (Jazz at Massey Hall v2).

This album is great. There is so much feeling in these songs, and they are anything but traditional or sappy. Inventive. Accents through rhythm. Buy it and listen to one of the more original piano players.

Bud Powell was not one to shy away from testing the boundaries of jazz, and in some instances, disregarding them completely. Even Ornette Coleman's wildest creations still sound like jazz to me, while Powell's work takes occasional detours far and deep into uncharted waters. While I am inspired and occasionally awestruck by his unorthodox interpretations of Autumn in New York and Sure Thing, I find myself drawn to his more conventional renditions, like I Want to Be Happy and Collard Greens and Black Eyed Peas. I recommend Amazing Vol. 1 over this for sheer listening pleasure, but Vol. 2 gave me an even deeper appreciation for deep talent of the truly amazing Bud Powell.

Although this recording suffers technically from many of the issues of its predecessor The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1 (ragged recording, noticeable hiss, uneven EQ, etc.) I ranked it slightly higher because it seems to me to be a little sparser, which allows a little more of Bud's musicality and raw talent to show through. The overall feeling of the work is more "up", while the selection of songs still allows Bud to explore some altered dynamics and experiment with rhythm and tempo while staying true to the music. To me, he just sounds - I don't know - more at ease and natural. It may be that after listening to volume 1 a couple of times before listening to this even once, my expectations were altered some, but I would argue that this recording is more modern, more diverse, and just better executed. It is undeniably a great CD. Fans of jazz piano and Bud Powell in particular will want to add this work to their collection, even given its technical shortcomings. Casual jazz fans, however, might be able to pass on this one in favor of something cleaner.

It's impossible to say that either volume 1 or volume 2 is "better"--both contain pieces essential to representing Powell's genius. But I prefer this volume for its continuity--unlike the first volume, which contains tracks from several dates with several different groupings of instrumentalists, the songs here all feature Powell backed by bassist George Duvivier and Art Taylor. I also prefer the trio setting to the sometimes larger groups featured on vol. 1. Powell's playing here is still at technical top-form, and, as always, he undertakes wonderful explorations of the darker tones, especially in the low-mid range of the piano. Fans of Bill Evans will also want to check out this recording, as it is one of the best examples of Powell's profound influence on early Evans material.

All trio tracks. Parisian Thoroughfare is not to be missed