Videos: Bud Powell in Europe

Yesterday it poured in New York with a whipping wind, turning the city into the inside of a car wash. As always, I spent the day indoors writing (except for my daily pre-dawn swim). For some reason the weather made me want to listen to The Complete Bud Powell on Verve.

No other jazz pianist had a greater influence on other pianists in the late 1940s and 1950s than Powell. While Art Tatum left a deep impression on Charlie Parker and other high-velocity reed and trumpet players, Powell's attack and keyboard elegance can be heard in virtually every pianist on the East and West coasts up until Bill Evans, who also had some Bud in his hands. Excluding Thelonious Monk, of course.

After listening to Powell on Verve, I turned to YouTube and found these three gems:

Dig Bud Powell and singer Trudy Peters on I Cover the Waterfront in 1960. Love the juxtaposition between Peters' glassy eyes and Powell's mouthing of notes. But who was Trudy Peters and where is she now?…

Here's Powell in France in July 1960 with Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy (as), Ted Curson (tp), Booker Ervin (ts) and Danny Richmond (d). Dig Powell's monster, flawless solo, rendering the horns redundant…

And here's Bud Powell in Copenhagen in 1962…