Bud Powell born - September 27, 1924

On this day in 1924, pioneering jazz pianist Bud Powell was born. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves and Welcome to This Day
in History Class, a show that uncovers a little bit
more about history every day. Today is September. The day

(00:25):
was September nine. Earl Rudolph Powell, better known as Bud Powell,
was born in New York City. Pale was instrumental in
the development of modern jazz music. Though he died when
he was just forty one years old, his accomplishments as
a jazz soloists greatly contributed to the growth of bebop.

(00:48):
Musical talent ran in Pale's family. His grandfather, father, and
siblings were all musicians. His father was a stride pianist.
Stride was a jazz piano style that developed as the
popularity of ragtime was dying down. Stride pianist played the
melody with the right hand, while the left hand alternates

(01:09):
between a single note and a chord played in octave
or more higher. The left hand had to go greater
distances on the keyboard, often very quickly, and improvisation was
more important than it had previously been. When Paul was
a child, his father began teaching him classical music. At
age fifteen, he dropped out of de Witt Clinton High

(01:30):
School to pursue his passion playing the piano. He began
playing at clubs in Coney Island and Harlem. In the
mid nineteen forties, pal Met the Loneous Monk, a jazz
pianist and composer at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, and Monk
became a mentor to him. Powell became a regular feature

(01:51):
at Minton's Playhouse, known for its role in the development
of modern jazz and jam sessions with people like Charlie Parker,
Dizzy Gillespie, and Kenny Clark. Powell also toured and recorded
with trumpeter Cooney Williams's orchestra. He recorded with tenor saxophonist
Dexter Gordon, and he played on Charlie Parker's Savoy sessions.

(02:14):
He recorded the five volume The Amazing but Pale. In
the nineteen forties and nineteen fifties, influenced by Art Tatum,
Charlie Parker, Billy Kyle, and Felonious Monk, Paw emerged as
a leading figure in bebop. He found a lot of
success as a pianist, though black audiences were not initially

(02:35):
completely receptive to modern jazz. In the nineteen forties, still,
Paw faced physical and mental struggles. He spent time in
a psychiatric hospital from nineteen forty seven to nineteen forty
eight after getting in a fight at a bar. At
Createmore State Hospital, he received electro convulsive therapy. After he

(02:55):
was released from the hospital, he was placed in convalescent care,
which was basically parole. Paul returned to music, but he
spent a lot of time from nineteen fifty one to
nineteen fifty three institutionalized. After he was arrested on a
drug charge in February of nineteen fifty three, the state
of New York declared him incompetent and incapable of handling

(03:18):
his own money. Oscar Goodstein, Powell's manager and owner of
Berland Nightclub, became his committee and began managing his money.
Goodstein got Pal steady work, but Pal was still struggling
with his mental health. His relationships with his colleagues were deteriorating.
In the late nineteen fifties, after spending more time in

(03:40):
the hospital, Paul moved to Paris with all Tva Edwards,
and he soon began playing in France and touring throughout Europe.
Edwards and a friend, Francis Poldra, looked out for pal
while in Europe, but he was deeply affected by his alcoholism,
mental illness, and medication. In nineteen sixty three, he contracted

(04:01):
to berculosis. Back in New York, musicians put together a
benefit concert to help him with medical expenses. In nineteen
sixty four, he moved back to the US. He continued
to play the piano, and his return was celebrated, though
his performances did not get rave reviews. His music suffered

(04:21):
as his health declined and he missed some of his performances.
On July thirty one, nineteen sixty six, he died of
health complications. His pioneering work in bebop continued to influence
later musicians like Bill Evans, Cecil Taylor, and Horace Silver.

(04:42):
I'm Eve, Jeffcode, and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. If you have
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(05:14):
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