A History Of Blue Note Records: 1951

The Bud Powell Trio – May 1 1951

Leonard Feather – BLP 1503/1504 Liner Notes

Bud Powell's career has been an erratic one, gregarious months along 52nd Street alternating with lonely months in the hospital. For all the inconsistency of his march to fame, he has managed to earn the unanimous admiration of his contemporaries and to forge an ineradicable place for himself in the international hall of jazz fame.

Born Earl Powell in New York City on Sept. 27, 1924, he is one of three brothers; Richie Powell, who is a few years older, plays piano with the Max Roach-Clifford Brown combo. Bud gained his early experience playing teen-aged gigs around Manhattan and Brooklyn; some of his earliest jobs were with Valaida Snow and the Sunset Royal Orchestra, and at the late Canada Lee's Chicken Coop.

"The Birth Of A Masterpiece" is the title Hollywood would probably give to the fascinating story told by the three takes of Un Poco Loco heard here. The first cut shows the composition at a stage somewhat before Bud has quite settled down to a definitive interpretation; it bogs down. Bud senses it and stops short, just as the driver of a smooth-running limousine might pull up on hearing air escape from a tire. The second take, though more or less complete, still lacks something of the conviction of the third, which is the one originally released on a 78 r.p.m. disc. Un Poco Loco has always been, for me, an indescribably exciting experience and certainly one of Bud's greatest compositions. To hear it as it is presented here is pleasure thrice compounded.

It Could Happen To You shows Bud adopting what might be called the Tatum approach to a ballad, playing it first ad lib, then in tempo, without accompaniment. Bop is a secondary ingredient, chords spell the single-note passages, and Bud is on interestingly neutral ground.

It Could Happen To You is an alternate master of one of Bud's best ballad interpretations, differing in content though not in mood from the previously released take, and originally rejected only because of a slightly marred ending. The same may be said of the alternate take on A Night in Tunisia, in which Bud's weirdly delayed ending resulted in the decision to make another take (heard on the next track). Wail and Bouncing With Bud, both Powell originals, are both happy tunes with an exultant rhythmic feel throughout.

Blue Note Spotlight June 2013

The 1951 session, with Curly Russell on bass and Max Roach on drums, features three covers and two originals (plus, in total, four alternative takes). Bud features himself in a solo setting on both “Over the Rainbow” (a rumbling, intensely yearning open and close with a slow, emotive read of the melody in the middle) and “It Could Happen to You” (a beauty that could well be the sleeper tune of the album). Bud happily dances through Dizzy Gillespie’s “ A Night in Tunisia” and sits in the piano driver’s seat for a gently swinging ride on his own “Parisian Thoroughfare,” which comes to a slamming stop at the end when Bud runs out of ideas or directions or gas and he barks at the engineer, “Hey, cut it, man.”

The key tune on the 1951 session is the high-speed “Un Poco Loco,” with Max playing clave on the cymbals and Bud flying free form with fleet passages. He sprints and surges, scurries and pushes on the keys.

One of Bud’s most celebrated tunes, “Un Poco Loco” has an intriguing backstory as related in Peter Pullman’s 2012 biography, Wail: The Life of Bud Powell (Bop Changes). Referencing Alfred Lion’s recollections, Pullman points out that Bud’s behavior was odd. He arrived at the studio, went to the bathroom and slipped out of the building.

Pullman continues: “Russell and Roach, while accustomed to Powell’s disappearances, started to manifest real discomfort though in different ways…They waited ninety minutes and had just about given up when [according to Alfred] ‘a door to the studio opened and in rushed Bud. Before you knew it, he was sitting at the piano, saying, Okay, okay, we’re ready, let’s go. Nobody was prepared. Max got on the drums. Curly picked up the bass. I’m telling [engineer Doug] Hawkins to get going and catch it when they start…’”

Without any preparation—and according to some reports without any idea about the tune—Bud led the way and conjured up a classic, in a pure jazz essence of spontaneity. Where he went, what he did is open to speculation, but whatever happened, Bud brought to life one of the greatest pieces of music in the jazz songbook—on what is arguably his greatest, most amazing recording.

https://www.bluenote.com/spotlight/the-amazing-bud-powell/

Bob Blumenthal – The Amazing Bud Powell Volume 1 RVG CD Liner Notes

The May 1951 trio date that completes this collection is one of Powell’s better “after” performances, even if his precarious emotional state is often audible. Alfred Lion has related to Michael Cuscuna how the pianist disappeared at the beginning of the session, only to rush back in two hours later, insist, “Okay, okay, we’re ready, let’s go!” and launch into the first take of “Un Poco Loco.” Yet somehow Powell produced three trio and two solo titles of startling musicality. It no doubt helped to have the assistance of bassist Curley Russell and drummer Max Roach, who first recorded with Powell on a 1946 Dexter Gordon date for Savoy, were the rhythm section on the pianist’s first trio session for Roost n 1947, and participated in the more recent Powell recordings for Verve and Prestige, the latter also featuring Sonny Stitt.

All three versions of “Un Poco Loco” appeared on the first 12’ volume of The Amazing Bud Powell, where they provided one of the earliest examples of alternate takes illuminating a classic performance. Each take was progressively longer and more complete, with the master including both a drum solo (also heard on the second alternate) and a complete recapitulation of the theme. The composition is one of Powell’s best, a rhythmic minefield over a Latin base complete with I introduction, a gorgeous bridge and an interlude; then Powell solos over a vamp. Roach’s evolving Afro-Latin drum part is a study in instant responsiveness, while Powell’s improvisations are overwhelming and near demonic. The imposing, almost melodic energy of his waves of notes delivered with often frightening intensity, suggests where John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor were headed as they broke the boundaries of popular song form nearly a decade later.

“Over The Rainbow,” the first of two solo performances from the session, is bruised and impulsive yet no less virtuosic or deeply moving. Powell relaxes a bit at the start of the second chorus, then reverts to the rushes and hesitations of the opening when the theme returns. The tensions of the previous performances are channeled over a comfortable medium-tempo groove on two excellent takes of “A Night In Tunisia,” with the master take featuring an especially brilliant break and final bridge. Leonard Feather reported that “Bud’s weirdly delayed ending [on the alternate] resulted in the decision to make another take,” although the master was actually recorded first. Perhaps the alternate resulted from Powell’s dropping the second eight bars of the second solo chorus on the master. Both takes find him humming audibly in the background.

Two unaccompanied takes of “It Could Happen To You” reveal Powell’s love of Art Tatum. The alternate was recorded first, and may have been initially rejected, as Feather reported for its odd ending. The master take includes an additional half chorus, and provides nearly an extra minute of Powell piano.

A solo version of the delightful “Parisian Thoroughfare” had been recorded for Clef three months earlier, making this incomplete trio performance the sequel. (There was confusion on this point when this track was incorrectly identified on its initial appearance as 1949 session.) The sparkling melody conjures the City of Lights years before Powell arrived there as an expatriate.

Photos by Francis Wolff

Down Beat Volume 18 Issue 15

Jack [Tracy]: Curly Russell and Max Roach make it a trio on the first and third, Bud goes it alone on the ballads.

Tunisia is at a good tempo, and Powell rips through some swinging sixteenth notes effectively, but he doesn’t take enough advantage of his fine support and bogs down in a few spots. It’s not consistent. The vocal is by Powell.

Bud goes Latin on Poco, but again falls into a somewhat disjointed performance.

His ballad sides are weak, consisting mostly of melody with darting little Tatum runs and Garner flourishes as embellishments. (Blue Note 1576, 1577.)

Down Beat 21 May 1952 Volume 19 Issue 10

Two piano solo sides, four trios and two numbers by a quintet (Fats Navarro, Sonny Rollins and rhythm) are here combined into an LP, justifiably entitled “The Amazing Bud Powell.”

Cynics who are inclined to sneer at bop and belittle its accomplishments are hereby advised to spend a few hours browsing over this disc. Congratulations to Blue Note’s Alfred Lion for catching Bud at his fabulous best, and to the artist, name of Bacon, who conjured up that brilliant likeness of Bud for the cover. (Blue Note LP 5003.)

Michael Cuscuna Interview with Alfred Lion – reprinted in The Complete Bud Powell Blue Note Recordings Mosaic Box Set

Alfred Lion: Well, I remember for Bud’s second date, I decided to invite him to my little apartment in Englewood, New Jersey to have some dinner and spend the night here. That way, we’d go to the recording session together the next day and he doesn’t have to get out of sight, you know.

So in the morning we had some breakfast on the table. I had a little cat that was all black except for a little white spot on its nose. Anyway, it jumped on the table like cats do. And Bud went crazy, absolutely crazy. He took a big knife from the table and tried to kill the cat. Immediately, we had to get the cat out of the way. And I told him to relax, it was only my cat and so on.

Anyway, we took my car and drove to into Manhattan. Of course, from Englewood, we had to go through Harlem and get to midtown. Bud asked me to stop somewhere at this doctor’s office. Well, I couldn’t refuse him so I stopped. We went into this basement. There was this doctor’s office filled with people, maybe fifteen or more. I said, “Bud what are we going to do? We can’t wait here. Look at all these people. He realized we had to get to the date at WOR at a certain time and said “Yeh, let’s go, let’s go.”

So we got to the date. Max Roach set up his drums. The bass player Curly Russell was there. I was in the control room with Doug Hawkins, telling him about the piano, how important it was to record it clear and Max’s way of playing drums. Bud came into the control room and asked where the men’s room is. He took the key and went into the men’s room. Five, ten minutes pass. Max asked me where Bud was. I told him so he checked and Bud was gone. He wasn’t anywhere around anymore. We waited and waited. Russell took one drink, then another. Finally, Max said, “Is this going to be a date or not?” I said yes. I was somehow convinced that he was going to be there. We waited about an hour and a half. Max and especially Curly got nervous. They were ready to go home. All of a sudden a door to the studio opens and in rushed Bud. Before you knew it he was sitting at the piano saying, “Okay, okay, we’re ready. Let’s go.”

Down Beat 18 April 1956 – Nat Hentoff In view of the importance of this album historically, and the fact that four of its tracks have never been released previously, this part-reissue set gets listed here. Loco, one of Bud‘s most striking performances, is shown here in genesis. Infidels, never released on LP before, has Fats Navarro, Sonny Rollins, Tommy Potter, and Roy Haynes. Like Theme, Wail, and Bouncing with Bud (which have the same personnel and were previously on 10″ LPs), Infidels was recorded in 1949. It Could Happen is a hitherto unreleased alternate master as is the first Tunisia. Both, like Loco and Parisian Thoroughfare, were cut in 1951 with Curley Russell and Max Roach. Ornithology with Potter and Haynes dates back to 1949. Thoroughfare, never released before, is an earlier version of the original Bud recorded for Clef. This is the first volume of two Blue Note 12″ Powell LPs. Blue Note has also repacked in 12″ form albums by Sidney Bechet (BLP 1201), Jay Jay Johnson (BLP 1505) and Miles Davis (BLP 1501). All are recommended. Remastering has been done by Rudy Van Gelder. (Blue Note 12" 1503)