Customer Reviews

Glass Enclosure: The Life of Bud Powell (Bayou Jazz Lives)

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This short work should be read in conjunction or shortly after reading "Dance of the Infidels : A Portrait of Bud Powell -- by Francis Paudras". "The Glass Enclosure" frequently refers to Francis Paudras, as any biography of Bud Powell must. It contains many pictures of Bud that help to understand him better, including several pictures of his common law wife "Buttercup". The book assumes the reader is familiar with the general history of bebop and figures such as Miles Davis, Diz, Monk, Mingus, Clifford Brown, etc. It was originally published in 1993, so this is a reprint. The book can be read in a couple of days. The research done for the book is good in terms of people who were interviewed. Bud was a genius but a very troubled on. This books explains, sometimes to the point of being painful to read, the details of Bud's mental troubles. It leaves one feeling sad but full of wonder at Bud's extraordinary musical powers and the recorded legacy he leaves for current and future generations. These two books are probably the sum total of all that will ever be known about Bud Powell. Combined with his recordings, especially from the period 1947 to 1953, it is hopefully enough to satisfy the generations as yet unborn who will certainly revere Bud as a great master.

The Glass Enclosure offers a brief biographical sketch of Bud Powell as it traces the artistic triumphs of his early career that turned to tragedy as mental illness, alcoholism, and mistreatment by his handlers all diminished his musical gifts. The book balances some of the claims made by Francis Paudras in Dance of the Infidels and fills in some of the details of Powell's pre-Paris years that Paudras omits. Still, The Glass Enclosure reads like an extended encyclopedia entry and provides little information beyond that found in other histories of the era or biographies of the principal players. The definitive Bud Powell biography is probably still to be written.

The most useful part of the book is the discography. This is presented first as a critical analysis and then as a detailed chronology of Powell's recordings. Together, these two chapters provide a brief but comprehensive survey of Powell's career and are useful to anyone building a collection of his important recordings. The book also pulls together a number of photos of both Powell and the musicians who influenced him; unfortunately, many of these are so dark as printed in the book, that many details are hard to make out.

One of the other reviews says that this could be written by anyone with access to a library. That is theoretically true. But, the problem is that there just aren't that many books out there solely dedicated to Bud, not like the number of books dedicated to Miles Davis or John Coltraine. So, though this may not be stuffed in new information, there's just not that much new information and what's out there requires a really really good library. Indeed, as also has been said, the discography is a highlight. So, get this book as an addition to your library if you love Bud. Also, if you want to know every little detail this is also a good place to go.

This book could've been written by anybody with access to a library. There is nothing new, revealing, insightful, or hip. This book is a rehash of stuff and I'd feel it was a waste except for some pics of Bud I've never seen.

This great piano player deserves better