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Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. A pioneer in the development of bebop and its associated contributions to jazz theory, Powell's application of complex phrasing to the piano influenced both his contemporaries and later pianists including Walter Davis, Jr., Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Barry Harris. Born in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance to a musical family, Powell, during the 1930s, developed an attacking, right-handed approach to the piano, which marked a break from the left-handed approach of stride and ragtime that had been prevalent. Upon joining trumpeter Cootie Williams' band in 1943, he received attention from the broader musical community for his fluency and advanced technique. A severe beating by police in 1945 and years of electroconvulsive therapy treatments adversely impacted his mental health, but his recordings and live performances with Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, and Max Roach during the late 1940s and early 1950s were instrumental in shaping modern jazz piano technique. Following a partial recovery in the mid to late 1950s, Powell's relocation to Paris in 1959 contributed to the community of African-American expatriates fleeing racism and barriers to a higher standard of living. He returned to a regular recording schedule, toured across Northern and Central Europe, and made records before becoming ill with tuberculosis in 1963. Despite the friendship and protection of French jazz aficionado Francis Paudras, mental health crises and a troubled return to New York hastened his early death in 1966. The decades following his death saw his career and life story become the inspiration for films and written works, including Bertrand Tavernier's Round Midnight. Many Powell compositions, including "Un Poco Loco", "Bouncing with Bud", and "Parisian Thoroughfare" have become jazz standards. Early life Powell was born in Harlem, New York, United States. His date of birth on his birth certificate was incorrectly listed as 1922, but he was born in 1924. Zachary, his grandfather, was a flamenco guitarist and Spanish-American War veteran. His father William was a stride pianist. Powell began to take classical piano lessons at the age of five. His teacher, hired by his father, was a West Indian man named William Rawlins. As Powell was an altar boy at a Catholic church in Harlem, he also learned to play church organ. At 10 years of age, Powell showed interest in swing music, and he first appeared in public at a rent party, where he mimicked Fats Waller's playing style. He enrolled in classical music competitions but was admired by jazz musicians and shifted toward jazz after leaving DeWitt Clinton High School. The first jazz composition that he mastered was James P. Johnson's "Carolina Shout", but at an early age Powell developed an interest in adapting Broadway songs to jazz improvisation. His father made private tape recordings of him from 1934 to 1939; for these he played classical music and jazz standards. According to Francis Paudras, a friend of Powell's who heard the recordings, he had already developed his characteristic right-hand-focused approach to piano by that point. Bud became a friend of fellow jazz pianist Elmo Hope during his childhood. Powell and Hope performed hymns and Bach compositions for Hope's mother, who had a piano at her home, but also experimented with harmonic ideas such as flattened fifths. Powell's younger brother by seven years, Richie Powell, learned to play piano as well. The nickname "Bud," given to him by Richie, was a corruption of "brother". Older brother William played trumpet and violin and brought Bud, by now 15 years old, into his band. With this experience, Bud began a professional career; his first gig was as an accompanist for jazz singer Valaida Snow. Career 1943–1945: Cootie Williams' band In his youth Powell listened to the adventurous performances at Clark Monroe's Uptown House, a venue near his home. This was where Charlie Parker first appeared as a solo act when the saxophone player briefly stayed in New York between stints with swing bands. Thelonious Monk played at Uptown House. When Monk met Powell he introduced Powell to musicians who were starting to play bebop at Minton's Playhouse. Monk was a resident pianist, and he presented Powell as his protégé. Their mutual affection grew, and Monk wrote "In Walked Bud" as a tribute to their time together in Harlem. Monk, Powell, and Hope held jam sessions together at Monk's home in San Juan Hill, but as they only had one piano, they had to alternate playing. Powell worked as a pianist for dance bands, his incubation culminating in becoming the pianist for the swing orchestra of trumpeter Cootie Williams. Powell was the pianist on a handful of Williams's recording dates in 1944 and embarked on a tour of the South with his band. Among the tracks released was the first recording of Monk's "'Round Midnight", a tune Powell requested that Williams' band play. Powell frequently clashed with Williams over what tunes the band would play, and by the mid-1940s the pianist had shifted toward the bebop scene on 52nd Street. By the end of his time with Williams, Powell was the musical director and arranger for the trumpeter's band. 1945–1948: Hospitalizations After a performance with Williams' band, Powell wandered near Broad Street Station and was apprehended, drunk, by the private railroad police. He was beaten up by them and incarcerated briefly by the city police, but as his headaches persisted, he moved to his family's second home in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. He suffered constant pain from his head wounds and turned to alcohol to relieve the pain, as a result developing an addiction that would haunt him for the rest of his life. After attempts by Powell's mother and his girlfriend Frances Barnes to treat his severe headaches, he admitted himself to Bellevue Hospital. Following medical evaluation at Bellevue, he was transferred to Creedmoor State Hospital and was institutionalized with alcoholics, drug addicts, and permanently institutionalized residents. Fellow pianist and composer Elmo Hope, who visited Powell regularly while he was hospitalized, became concerned by Creedmoor's forced administration of tranquilizers and sleeping pills and their negative impact upon Powell's health. Hope arranged for his medical care to be transferred to a jazz aficionado who let him play piano regularly and even perform a concert to show his lucidity. After the concert, he was released and resumed playing in Manhattan. In 1945–46 Powell recorded with Frank Socolow, Sarah Vaughan, Dexter Gordon, J. J. Johnson, Sonny Stitt, Fats Navarro, and Kenny Clarke. Powell became known for his sight-reading and his skill at fast tempos. In an incident in 1945, Monk falsely confessed to using drugs Powell had used in order to protect his friend from losing his cabaret card. In January 1947 Powell recorded the first half of his.... Discover the Osie Turner popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Osie Turner books.