Customer Reviews

At Massey Hall 2

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This cd includes music recorded the same night as the classic Massey Hall concert that featured Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillspie, Powell, Max Roach and Charles Mingus. Also heard here is music from a later night club engagement and, for some reason two tracks, one with several alternate takes, lead by Charles Mingus. The Powell music features two trios lead by Powell. The first is from the Massey hall gig and features Mingus on bass and Roach on drums. The second has George Duvivier on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. The music is classic Powell. On uptempo numbers such as "Cherokee" and "Jubilee" his Powell shows off his furious right hand, blazing through the material at near light speed. He also displays his soft touch with his tender takes of "My Devotion" and "Polka Dots and Moonbeams".The material that takes up the middle of the cd is from a studio trio lead by Mingus. The master and three alternates of "Bass-ically Speaking" and "Untitled Blues" give the great bassist room to roam and diplay his technique. Max Roach takes an extended, thunderous drum solo on "Drum Coversation" before the Massey hall trio closes out the cd with a delicate take on "I've Got You Under My Skin". This cd is full of classic bop performances by some of it's founders. The sound quality may not excite the 24bit remaster crowd, but never takes away from the performances. This is a perfect companion to the classic "Charlie Parker Jazz at Massey Hall" and is a must for bop fans.

This strange CD consists of 7 tracks from the legendary Massey Hall concert of 1953 featuring the rhythm section from that night only(Powell, Mingus, Roach), 4 tracks of Powell, George Duvivier (bs) and Art Taylor (d)from a 1953 nightclub gig, and 4 tracks featuring pianist BILLY TAYLOR (not Bud Powell) dueting with Mingus. The inclusion of the Billy Taylor tracks makes no sense whatsoever (Fantasy Inc. has chosen to keep them, because Charles Mingus' Debut label, which originally produced the LP, mistakenly included these tracks for years). In the Massey Hall performance, Powell vacillated between brilliant up-tempos and overbearing, thick, pounding ballads that I found disturbing and hard to take...however, Bud is perfection on "My Heart Stood Still" (from a 1953 club date), and "Embraceable You" is a haunting and wonderful ballad that does not suffer from the heavy block chords of "Polka Dots". These two tracks are worth the entire album.

This collection is a treasure--and not just for reasons many Powell commentators put forth. Look beyond the fact that seven tracks are from the trio portion of the legendary Massey Hall "summit meeting", and get into the material. Two of Powell's most interesting ballads are here. The version of "Embraceable You" here is the definitive one, mysterious, poignant and alive---arguably one of the best interpretations of the composition ever recorded. Similarly, "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" is superior and emotionally more complex than the more conventional (and more popular) treatment recorded on Blue Note. Finally, "My Heart Stood Still" is Powell at his fleeting, snaking best at the height of his powers.

Bud Powell once acknowledged that his favorite pianist was Thelonious Monk. What's always fascinated me about this Massey Hall + material is the way, on the slow ballads (SURE THING, EMBRACEABLE YOU, MY DEVOTION), Powell plays so much like Monk. Bird once said that "the Monk runs deep," and Powell plows that deep furrow of Monk's marvelously here. On the up-tempo selections Bud is the penultimate fleet-fingered bop pianist, with CHEROKEE and HALLELUJAH being prime examples of Bud at his best in this groove. Max Roach's brush work on these swingers is also terrific. Bassist Charles Mingus, whom we can thank for having these recordings at all, is right on top of things in his forceful, striking style. These are among Powell's finest live performances.