Powell was perhaps the first pianist to vocalize on the piano, meaning that he transfered his vocalized improvisations directly through his hands to the instrument. This gave his music a deep connection to time, which is an artifact of the human voice. Previously, horn players were more likely to express their improvisations vocally, as the mouth and breath are directly tied to the performance of horn players.
Powell suffered from Bi-Polar Disorder, and in November 1947, Powell was admitted to Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, where he stayed for more than a year, receiving electroconvulsive therapy which caused severe memory loss. The young Jackie McLean and Sonny Rollins became friendly with Powell on his release from the hospital, and Powell recommended McLean to Miles Davis. However, Powell suffered from mental illness throughout his life, and had a reputation for his strange behaviour. In fact his problems, exacerbated by a beating from the police in 1945 for being disorderly, could all be attributed to being a manic depressive, although his illness was almost certainly a key driver of his immense creative talent. He was also an alcoholic, and even small quantities of alcohol had a profound effect on his character, making him aggressive. Powell's continued rivalry with Charlie Parker, while essential to the production of brilliant music, was also the subject of disruptive feuding and bitterness on the bandstand, as a result of Powell's troubled mental and physical condition. He spent all of 1952 (and parts of many subsequent years) in a hospital. When he was out of the hospital, he was often locked up in a hotel room and was usually denied receiving the money he earned performing.
It is generally agreed that his best recordings are those made prior to 1954, both for Blue Note Records and for Norman Granz (at Mercury Records, Norgran Records, Clef Records and later on Verve Records).
After 1953 (when Powell attempted suicide), his style became darker and slower. Many jazz critics pronounced him "washed up" during the last decade of his career. There were a few recordings which never should have been issued (Verve from January 1955 and Roulette Oct. 1964). Still, he continued to play with great intensity even without the speed that made him famous in the 1940s. His late 1950s Blue Note recordings are recommended. Bud performed regularly with drummer Kenny Clarke and bassists Oscar Pettiford or Pierre Michelot. He performed brilliantly as a sideman for Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Dexter Gordon on recordings in the early 1960s. As late as 1962 he recorded concerts in Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland, in which he played as brilliantly as he had played in the late 1940s. Powell moved to France in 1959, when his life was extended by several years under the care of a fan named Francis Paudras, whose book "Dance of the Infidels" is required reading for any Powell fan. Paudras' friendship produced many impromptu recordings and was the basis for the 1987 Bernard Tavenier film "Round Midnight", for which Dexter Gordon received a best actor Oscar nomination (as a fictional composite of Bud Powell and Lester Young).
Paudras and Powell returned to Birdland in the fall of 1964 to initial critical acclaim. Bud despised the drummer he had to play with and soon lost his regular engagement at Birdland. After Paudras returned to France without Powell, ESP-disk's founder became Bud's legal guardian, but let Bud self-destruct from late 1964 until his death in July, 1966. Bud's last recordings were a haunting, sparse "Round Midnight" from Carnegie Hall in March 1965 and other trio tracks from January 1966 on the mysterious "Ups 'n Downs" album.
He is survived by his daughter Celia, who has been reissuing Paudras' recordings of her father on the Pablo and Piadrum labels.
All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
Bud Powell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This is my philosophy
To see me through the day
To scare my cares away
All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
All God's Chillun got swing
Maybe haven't got money
All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
For to push away the blues
Yeah !
All God's Chillun got trouble
Trouble don't mean a thing
When they start to go ho ho ho de ho
Troubles bound to go 'way, say!
All God's Chillun Got Swing.
The lyrics to Bud Powell's song "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" are meant to be a comforting reassurance that, no matter what one's circumstances might be, everyone has rhythm and swing that can lift them up and chase away their worries. The song offers a philosophy that the listener can use to make it through the day and cheer themselves up. The repetition of the phrase "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" emphasizes the universality of rhythm and swing, suggesting that these qualities are innate to all people, regardless of their station in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Chillun', listen here to me
Children, please listen to my advice
This is my philosophy
This is my belief system
To see me through the day
To help me get through the day
To scare my cares away
To make me forget my worries
All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
Everyone born of God has rhythm
All God's Chillun got swing
Everyone born of God has a sense of style
Maybe haven't got money
Maybe they don't have any money
Maybe haven't got shoes
Maybe they don't have any shoes
All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
Everyone born of God has rhythm
For to push away the blues
To chase away sadness and depression
Yeah !
An exclamation of excitement or agreement
All God's Chillun got trouble
Everyone born of God faces problems
Trouble don't mean a thing
Problems are insignificant
When they start to go ho ho ho de ho
When they start singing and dancing
Troubles bound to go 'way, say!
Problems will disappear
All God's Chillun Got Swing.
Everyone born of God has a sense of style
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Thomas "Fats" Waller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
billy bob
this song is great!
Dwayne Richardson
This so they say was Bud's meat and potatoes,this is Bud with all of gifts flying all over the key board.This is Bud with all these ideas in the right hand and rumblin left hand.Listen some times too Bud playing All God Chillun with Sonny Stitt,Sonny the great tenor player mocked and called him the amazing Bud Powell a put down,Sonny ripped off a great solo but Bud chewed him up and spit him out! They traded fours at the end Sonny cut Bud off and ended the tune. That cd is on Prestige.
rtifishul
Does it really get better than Max and Bud?
Dwayne Richardson
I was just heard Bud Quote a tune he wrote himself based on all God's Chilluns Reets And I.
blackandtanful
ﾋﾟｱﾉに哀感･歓喜･苦悩･･なんでも持たせるｼﾞﾆｱｽ､ﾊﾞﾄﾞ･ﾊﾟｳｴﾙ､１８番"AllGod'sChillunGotRhyth"こころの躍動美 #jazzm
MB88
that's the gospel truth.
2300skiddoo
Reats and I was written by Benny Harris, though Bud's version is pretty much definitive. 2 "dislikes" ??????
Eagle Eagle
Ilove it