• Track Listing

Bud Powell was one of the most important and influential jazz pianists of the post-war era. Brief, patchy and sadly interrupted by illness and misfortune as his career was, he helped change the conventions of jazz piano at the birth of bebop, and introduced techniques taken up by dozens of noted players in his wake, abandoning the established striding left-hand technique in favour of spacey irregular patterns of dissonant chords, while the right hand developed rapid free-flowing melodic lines effectively mimicking the saxophone style of Charlie Parker on the piano. It resulted at times in inspired, brilliant and breathtaking solos, with a daring attack and intensity, which greatly influenced artists of later years such as Bill Evans. We presented a selection of his most noted recordings on The Best Of Bud Powell 1944-62 Vol. 1 (ADDCD3116), but there were many of equal quality and interest that we could not include, so this 2-CD collection covers a similar era, with pieces selected from a wide spectrum of the projects and periods which gave rise to some of his best-known and most highly regarded performances. The regard in which he was held by his peers is underlined by the litany of jazz greats with whom he performs on many of these recordings, who include Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, Fats Navarro, Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Max Roach, Buddy Rich, Percy Heath, Curly Russell and many more. It's an absorbing and entertaining showcase for a fine jazz musician.