Bud Powell - The Best of 1944-62 Vol. 1 (2CD)

Although Bud Powell may not be one of the first names to spring to mind in listing the greats of jazz piano, he was undoubtedly one of the most important and influential, who deserves to be ranked alongside the more lauded luminaries of the genre. Brief, patchy and sadly interrupted by illness and misfortune as his career was, he was hugely influential in changing the conventions of jazz piano in the post-swing era, and introduced techniques that have been taken up by dozens of noted players in his wake. Coming to prominence at the birth of bebop, he became the most important pianist of the early bop style, 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 .