Bud Powell

Bud Powell, hand-drawn portrait of the jazz composer at his piano in 1957, age 33.

Powell 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.
Many Powell compositions, including “Un Poco Loco”, “Bouncing with Bud”, and “Parisian Thoroughfare” have become jazz standards.

He was hospitalized again in 1966 following weight loss, erratic behavior, and self-neglect.
In a letter from Kings County Hospital, where staff attempted to give him further electroconvulsive treatments, he wrote days before his death: “I’m a writer and composer, and these treatments are destroying my brain.”
His final composition, written on his deathbed, was a poem called “Eternity”, foreshadowing his impending death.

On July 31, 1966, he died of tuberculosis, malnutrition, and alcoholism.
He was given the last rites of the Catholic Church and was visited by his family and Jackie McLean on his deathbed.
Several other musicians remained close to him until his death including Bob Bunyan, George Duvivier, Thelonious Monk, and Art Taylor.

He was 41.

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