United States
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Bud Powell
New York City, United States
Archival Overview
American jazz pianist who translated the lightning bebop syntax of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to the keyboard, laying the foundation for all modern jazz piano.
Biographical Record
Mentored in youth by Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell was the premier piano architect of the bebop revolution. Powell revolutionized jazz piano by abandoning the traditional two-handed, oom-pah stride accompaniment, instead using sparse, biting chord voicings in the left hand to liberate his right hand to fire rapid, linear horn-like melodies.
Despite severe mental health battles and brain trauma caused by a brutal police beating in Philadelphia in 1945, Powell produced incandescent Blue Note and Verve recordings between 1949 and 1953. Compositions like 'Un Poco Loco', 'Tempus Fugit', and 'Budo' established the harmonic lexicon for every modern jazz pianist who followed.
Key Life Milestones
The Amazing Bud Powell (Blue Note)
Recorded his landmark Blue Note sessions with Fats Navarro, Sonny Rollins, and Roy Haynes.
Un Poco Loco
Composed and recorded his Afro-Cuban polyrhythmic bebop masterpiece, ranked by critics among the greatest jazz recordings ever made.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialNew York City, United States