As we celebrate the centenary of Bud Powell’s birth today I want to reflect on his impact on me and the wider world. Sometimes it is not complicated why you like a jazz musician. For me, I started to love Bud Powell cause I thought his music was. . .cool. I didn’t know it featured groundbreaking harmony. I didn’t know it was at the edge of what was possible in the world of jazz at that time. I thought it sounded cool and that was enough. . .and it remains enough. Bud Powell is cool. When I was in eighth grade my brother was in college and around Thanksgiving he brought home a boatload of CDs. One of them was The Amazing Bud Powell Vol. 1.
My brother Steve put the CD in, said “I think you’ll like this one” and he played “Un Poco Loco”. He was right. It had a frantic energy that also grooved. I didn’t know a song could be frantic and groove. So I loved it. I was a frantic, nervous ass kid who so desperately wanted to groove and Bud Powell showed me a path. My brother told me that Powell was one of the greats but that he struggled mightily with his mental health. Right or wrong I heard that whole story inside of the sound of “Un Poco Loco”: The calming show-band groove of the B section smashed right up against the clustered ostinato parked in the A section. And it is was all supported by a drum and cowbell pattern that would be way over the top except because it’s Max Roach behind it was all the way in the pocket.
“Un Poco Loco” is but one little snapshot of Powell’s amazing work as a pianist and composer. In his too short career he was recognized as the equal of kindred jazz luminaries who had studied their predecessors and were actively and passionately adding on to the tradition. As we celebrate what would have been Mr. Powell’s hundredth birthday I am filled with gratitude for all the music he gave us to study, celebrate and simply enjoy. We also should be thanking Bud Powell when we hear nearly any piano in a modern jazz setting; fellow pianist Herbie Hancock said of Powell that “he was the foundation out of which stemmed the whole edifice of modern jazz piano”. I am grateful to Bud Powell and honored to celebrate his contributions on this momentous day.
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