Bud Powell: The Complete Blue Note and Roost Recordings
Consider 1994 a banner year for Bud Powell reissues, with two comprehensive sets covering most of his American studio recordings. This four-CD set collects Powell's 1947 session for Roost and his Blue Note recordings from 1949 to 1958, with a final leap ahead to 1963 for a single trio track. Powell's mercurial genius is most apparent in the early sessions. The eight Roost tracks, with Curly Russell on bass andMax Roachon drums, are stunning demonstrations of Powell's flying right-hand runs, knotting harmonic complexity, and tempestuous invention, including an early recording of "Off Minor" that shows Powell's grasp ofThelonious Monk's music.A 1949 quintet session has a teenagedSonny Rollinsin the frontline with trumpeterFats Navarrofor some Powell originals, and there are multiple trio takes of "Un Poco Loco" and "A Night in Tunisia" from 1951, in which each version seems somehow to exceed the manic energy of the preceding one. The final two CDs come from 1957-58, years when Powell had moderated his style, slowing down the infernal runs and working on a probing, more Monk-like, approach that often emphasized ballads and blues. Playing recent originals like "John's Abbey" and "Time Waits" in the company of some great rhythm players--bassistsPaul Chambersand Sam Jones and drummersPhilly Joe JonesandArt Taylor--Powell seems to find a new voice, a concentrated lyricism that tests the piano's emotive power. The five-CDComplete Bud Powell on Verve, which concentrates on Powell's recordings from the early to mid-1950s, is an important companion.--Stuart Broomer