Bud Powell

THE JEAN-PIERRE LELOIR COLLECTION

180 PRE VIRGIN VINYL LPs IN GATEFOLD PACKAGING

INCLUDES 2 BONUS TRACKS

"The Lonely One", issued by Verve in 1959, presents a series of 1955 trio sessions by the great Bud Powell, recorded in the company of such figures as bassists Percy Heath and George Duvivier, and drummers Kenny Clarke and Art Taylor. Powell experienced serious health problems throughout his life. He was commited to a mental hospital from late 1951 to early 1953, and would be released into the guardianship of Oscar Goodstein, the owner of the Birdland nightclub. Following his release from the hospital, Powell’s playing began to be seriously affected by Largactil, a drug prescribed for the treatment of schizophrenia, and by the late Fifties his talent was clearly in eclipse.

These sessions, however, still find him in good shape (his playing, besides some technical trouble, never ceased to produce interesting music). According to All About Jazz reviewer Patrick Burnette, “Powell deconstructs Monk’s ‘Epistrophy’ and garbles ‘Sweet Georgia Brown,’ but the most striking cut is ‘Mediocre,’ on which Powell plays a repetitive melody over a descending series of chords for about three minutes, making increasingly outre variations on the melody rather than soloing over the chords.”

PERSONNEL:

BUD POWELL, piano on all tracks, plus:

A1-A5 & B7:
GEORGE DUVIVIER, bass
ART TAYLOR, drums
Fine Sound Studio, New York, April 25 (A4-A5 & B7) and April 27 (A1-A3), 1955.

B1-B6:
PERCY HEATH, bass
KENNY CLARKE, drums
Fine Sound Studio, New York, January 13, 1955.

SIDE A:

1 CONFIRMATION
2 STAR EYES
3 LULLABY IN RHYTHM
4 WILLOW WEEP FOR ME
5 HEART AND SOUL (*)

SIDE B:

1 MEDIOCRE
2 ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE
3 EPISTROPHY
4 DANCE OF THE INFIDELS
5 SALT PEANUTS
6 HEY GEORGE [SWEET GEORGIA BROWN]
7 CRAZY RHYTHM (*)

(*) Bonus tracks: From the same sessions, but not included on the original LP.

4 1/2 STARS ALL MUSIC GUIDE