Bud Powell Paris Sessions

[Brad]

A couple of weeks ago tjazz had a question about this session and I pulled it out and listened to it again. 14 songs in all, originally issued on Mythic sound and reissued by Pablo. The first 6 are ok but not super from a session that his common law wife, Buttercup, made him record and better known as Bud Powell in Paris. The highlight is one hell of a Perdido. The better part of this disc are 8 live songs recorded in 2 different performances.

The first session which features a rhythm section of Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke are highlighted by a How High the Moon with Barney Wilen and Dizzy. As the notes mention, you wish they had recorded more often. There is a very brief Bud on Bach that is simply so breathtaking that even my son paid attention. On Bebop, Bud has so many ideas going, it just blew me away, even after listening to it two or three times.

However, the highlight for me was on the second session when Bud was in Edenville, France on vacation before his illfated trip to the US. There he played with Johnny Griffin, who is OUTSTANDING on Body and Soul. This is pure beautiful bebop at its best. I wish I could have been there when he played this. This has to be one of my favorite Johnny Griffin performance. He is just on. You gotta listen to him.

After listening to these performances, anyone who thinks Bud had nothing at that point in his life just ain't listening.

[papsrus]

This one, yes? (slightly different title -- "Paris Sessions").

[paul secor]

Not on the recording mentioned, but Bud & Griff on "Idaho" (Xanadu) is wonderful!

[BeBop]

Not on the recording mentioned, but Bud & Griff on "Idaho" (Xanadu) is wonderful!

Amen to that.

[mjzee]

A couple of weeks ago tjazz had a question about this session and I pulled it out and listened to it again. 14 songs in all, originally issued on Mythic sound and reissued by Pablo. The first 6 are ok but not super from a session that his common law wife, Buttercup, made him record and better known as Bud Powell in Paris. The highlight is one hell of a Perdido. The better part of this disc are 8 live songs recorded in 2 different performances.

The first session which features a rhythm section of Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke are highlighted by a How High the Moon with Barney Wilen and Dizzy. As the notes mention, you wish they had recorded more often. There is a very brief Bud on Bach that is simply so breathtaking that even my son paid attention. On Bebop, Bud has so many ideas going, it just blew me away, even after listening to it two or three times.

However, the highlight for me was on the second session when Bud was in Edenville, France on vacation before his illfated trip to the US. There he played with Johnny Griffin, who is OUTSTANDING on Body and Soul. This is pure beautiful bebop at its best. I wish I could have been there when he played this. This has to be one of my favorite Johnny Griffin performance. He is just on. You gotta listen to him.

After listening to these performances, anyone who thinks Bud had nothing at that point in his life just ain't listening.

After reading this, I looked at the disc on Amazon. The one reviewer there gives conflicting discographical information for tracks 7 - 14; I wonder which is correct:

"7, 8, 10: club tracks from "Groovin at the Blue Note" (1960). Powell is better on these. 9,11,12,13: club tracks from "Cooking at St.Germain 1957-1959. Powell is on fire. 14: "Body and Soul" from "Holidays in Edenville" 1964. A terrible warbling recording and a passionate but "off" Bud."

[Niko]

A couple of weeks ago tjazz had a question about this session and I pulled it out and listened to it again. 14 songs in all, originally issued on Mythic sound and reissued by Pablo. The first 6 are ok but not super from a session that his common law wife, Buttercup, made him record and better known as Bud Powell in Paris. The highlight is one hell of a Perdido. The better part of this disc are 8 live songs recorded in 2 different performances.

The first session which features a rhythm section of Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke are highlighted by a How High the Moon with Barney Wilen and Dizzy. As the notes mention, you wish they had recorded more often. There is a very brief Bud on Bach that is simply so breathtaking that even my son paid attention. On Bebop, Bud has so many ideas going, it just blew me away, even after listening to it two or three times.

However, the highlight for me was on the second session when Bud was in Edenville, France on vacation before his illfated trip to the US. There he played with Johnny Griffin, who is OUTSTANDING on Body and Soul. This is pure beautiful bebop at its best. I wish I could have been there when he played this. This has to be one of my favorite Johnny Griffin performance. He is just on. You gotta listen to him.

After listening to these performances, anyone who thinks Bud had nothing at that point in his life just ain't listening.

After reading this, I looked at the disc on Amazon. The one reviewer there gives conflicting discographical information for tracks 7 - 14; I wonder which is correct:

"7, 8, 10: club tracks from "Groovin at the Blue Note" (1960). Powell is better on these. 9,11,12,13: club tracks from "Cooking at St.Germain 1957-1959. Powell is on fire. 14: "Body and Soul" from "Holidays in Edenville" 1964. A terrible warbling recording and a passionate but "off" Bud."

99% sure that the amazon review is correct... (some time ago that i looked through this carefully) the cd papsrus linked to is definitely a more complicated compilation than what brad describes (including eg a lengthy track with zoot sims)... again pretty sure that pablo reissued only part of the griffin material (22 tracks...) and that what they reissued is spread over this compilation and one called Bebop (but not the third compilation Parisian Thoroughfares which has eg some Barney/Dizzy material)

jazzdisco is comparatively good on bud powell, but the three compilations are only listed (without details) at the very end....

http://www.jazzdisco.org/bud-powell/discography/

guess it breaks down to you either get the mythic sound set (no idea how difficult or easy or pricey that is) or you have to live with compilations... [not that the mythic sound set was complete... no overlap with the xanadu cd?, oh my god i'm confused]

to say it clearly: the material on the pablo cd comes from at least four different sessions: Trio, with Wilen, with Zoot Sims, with Griffin...

edit to add: read brads piece again, he also means this cd i guess, but it is a complicated compilation; recommended btw

Edited August 24, 2009 by Niko

[Niko]

ok, found my notes though not the cds: you can hear griffin for only two and a half minutes (within a seven and a half minutes version of body and soul) on the cd, this seems to be the only edenville recording, zoot sims is on one tune as well (but plays longer), a second tune from the sims session is on the parisian thoroughfares cd; wilen is also featured on only one tune iirc so the rest is trio... bud on bach is indeed astonishing

just listening to the xanadu album "bud in paris" (on deezer) the same type of mixed bag, with wilen, griffin, trio..., first two tunes are duetts between powell and a griffin, wow! (not from edenville though)

Edited August 24, 2009 by Niko

[king ubu]

Some of the material was also on Black Lion. I remember reading about such releases in a Penguin guide (prob. ed. 3, the first one I have).

I haven't compared it all, but I guess with the three Fantasy Bud CDs you get a fair selection of those recordings originally on Mythic Sound. The all stars 1949 session (on "Bebop") isn't included there, I think. And the decision to include the whole trio session with Panama Francis is indeed a bit a weird one, but there's plenty to enjoy on the three CDs!