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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The essential Powell, December 7, 1999
This review is from: Complete Blue Note & Roost (Audio CD)
This set comprises all four or so volumes of The Amazing Bud Powell, the first two discs of which were Powell's first albums as a leader and which undoubtedly represent his finest recorded work. The later discs are sometimes boggy and inept; that's the risk with consuming Powell in large quantities. The booklet is okay, but put to shame by the vast and compendious tome provided with the Verve boxed set of Powell (perhaps to make up for the fact that a lot of the music in the Verve set was distinctly substandard). For my money, Powell never played better than he did on these recordings.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
There is no such thing as too much Bud Powell, January 17, 2001
This review is from: Complete Blue Note & Roost (Audio CD)
These Bud Powell CD's get better with subsequent listenings. The genius of Bud Powell is of such depth that one or two listenings only begins to scratch the surface. I feel the same about the complete Blue Note Bud Powell collection. (I recommend both.) One simply cannot own too much Bud Powell. I urge Bud Powell fans to read Bud Powell's biography, Dance of the Infidels : A Portrait of Bud Powell by Francis Paudras. It may be hard to get, but it's well worth the effort. Bud's piano genius is all the more astounding when one learns of the hard life he led and the indignities he suffered.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolute genius, July 10, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Complete Blue Note & Roost (Audio CD)
Bud Powell was a giant, an innovator who equalled or surpassed Charlie Parker, and a pianist who rivalled Art Tatum technically and created a new pianistic language that has been watered down and aped by every jazz pianist to follow. There is no such thing as "too much of a good thing" if the thing is Bud Powell's recorded history. Powell remains underappreciated to this day, and his contributions to music---and human achievement---deserve all of our time. This wonderful collection, along with the "Complete Bud Powell on Verve", is essential to own and savor. Both box sets follow Powell from the pinnacle (which the Roost trios represent), when his speed, articulation and improvisations could not be matched, through the less consistent later recordings in which Powell's play simplified and occasionally stumbled (through no fault of his own). But just as legions of followers respect and applaud the flawed recordings of late period Charlie Parker as he died (literally) in front of the mike, so should we respect Bud Powell in his later incarnations. Take the time, and you will find gems even his final albums such as "Duid Deed", as earthy a blues as you will ever hear. An even more complete collection, the import The Complete 1947-1951 Blue Note, Verve and Roost Recordings (on Jazz Factory) also offers Powell at his peak.
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