Guthrie P. Ramsey - The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop

Michael P. Roth and Sukey Garcetti have endowed this imprint to honor the memory of their parents, Julia and Harry Roth, whose deep love of music they wish to share with others.

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Music in America Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Foundation, which was established by a major gift from Sukey and Gil Garcetti, Michael P. Roth, and the Roth Family Foundation.

In addition, the publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Research Opportunity Grant from the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

And the publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Gustave Reese Endowment of the American Musicological Society.

The Amazing Bud Powell

The Amazing Bud Powell

Black Genius, Jazz History,

and the Challenge of Bebop

Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

BerkeleyLos AngelesLondon

CENTER FOR BLACK MUSIC RESEARCH

Columbia College Chicago

University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

University of California Press

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

University of California Press, Ltd.

London, England

Center for Black Music Research

Columbia College Chicago

2013 by The Regents of the University of California

For illustration credits, please see page 229

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ramsey, Guthrie P.

The amazing Bud Powell : Black genius, jazz history, and the challenge of bebop / Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr.

p. cm. (Music of the African diaspora ; 17)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 9780-520243910 (cloth : alk. paper)

eISBN 9780520955158

1. Powell, BudCriticism and interpretation. 2. JazzHistory and criticism. I. Title.

ML417.P73R362013

786.2165092dc232012039182

Manufactured in the United States of America

22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Rolland Enviro100, a 100% post-consumer fiber paper that is FSC certified, deinked, processed chlorine-free, and manufactured with renewable biogas energy. It is acid-free and EcoLogo certified.

For Kellie Jones, the first I ever met

Contents

Acknowledgements

Although I completed a dissertation on Bud Powell what seems like ages ago, I cannot claim that hes always been on top of my desk in the ensuing years. There were many other projects to complete, including my book Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop; writing, recording, and performing my own music; curating the exhibition Aint Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment for the National Museum of African American History and Culture; many smaller writing assignments; wonderful collaborations with other artists and scholars; and much more. Mr. Powell patiently waited his turn.

When I started to think about him seriously again, and with more maturity, the lessons of his musical life and the issues surrounding them became clearer and more salient. Powell became a wonder. I first and foremost thank him for sharing his beautiful gift with the world, and I hope, with this book, that others will find a greater appreciation for the profundity, sublimity, and courage that Ive found in his work.

The many roads traveled from graduate school to an endowed professorship have been filled with people and institutions that have supported my work in numerous ways. At the University of Michigan, a scholarly and musical community sparked my excitement for intellectual pursuits and showed me how they might intersect with my ongoing interest in performance. The Thurgood Marshall Dissertation Fellowship at Dartmouth College allowed me time and resources to complete my dissertation on Powell. Tufts Universitys collegial faculty and inspiring students provided great opportunities to understand how teaching could impact ones intellectual life.

I can never thank my colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania enough for their very special brand of support, liveliness, fierceness, and thoughtfulness. The energies of the departments of music and Africana studies have guided and encouraged all the quirky turns in my career path and all the extra-musicological projects Ive taken on. I couldnt ask for a better collection of people to work among. My friend and colleague Tim Rommen has always been valuable as a sparring partner and arbiter in all things musical and intellectual through the years. Penn undergraduates never disappoint in helping to create an atmosphere in which ideas take form and then move out into the world. Graduate students in my various seminars through the years have read and responded to drafts of this book in its various stages, and it is better because of their keen eyes and sharp intellectual insights. In this regard, I must thank in particular Garry Bertholf and John Meyers for their readings of an entire draft. To the former students on whose dissertations I had the honor of serving as advisor, your insights and energy remain with me always. The office staff in both the music and Africana studies departments continue to amaze with the level of support they provide in all things great and small. Thank you. I also thank the faculty and students at Princeton and Harvard Universities for opportunities to teach and to engage your intellectual communities. I also wish to acknowledge Tony Peebles and Fredara Hadley for technical support and Chuck Stewart and Michael Cuscuna for the photographs in this book.

The Jazz Studies Group at Columbia University, founded by the eminent scholar Bob OMeally, created a space for the most advanced and motivating interdisciplinary thinking about this art form. The conversations, presentations, and debates among regular attendees and guests always provoked new ways to think aboutand in certain cases introduced me tosome of the ideas in this book. The staff and resources of the Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago, for many years have been a source of information and direction. I also thank the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the wonderful artist-in-residency that allowed me the time, space, and place to put the finishing touches on this book.

I cannot list all of the friends and family who have made my life richer and, in turn, my work more enjoyable. My parents, Guthrie Ramsey, Sr., and Celia Ramsey Wynn, together with my wonderful siblings and beautiful children, have shared with me many experiences and memories to cherish outside my professional life, all of which have made the writing easier. The young ones coming along particularly inspire me: E. J., Zoe, Lyberty, London, Jada, Myles, and Levi. They touch my life in amazing ways. My in-laws, an extraordinary group of writers and thinkers, have kept me on my toes, always pushing me toward new ideas and ways of doing. I particularly thank Hettie Jones for reading a draft or two and for readily offering me her ideas about craft and clarity. And to Amiri Baraka, I extend thanks for clearing the philosophical and political space many years ago for the kind of work this book represents.