Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. You Talk a Little Trash
2. Floogie Boo
3. I Don't Know
4. Gotta Do Some War Work
5. My Old Flame
6. Sweet Lorraine
7. Echoes of Harlem
8. Honeysuckle Rose
9. Roll 'Em
10. Smack Me
11. Blue Garden Blues
12. Man I Love
13. Reverse the Charges
14. September in the Rain
15. Long Tall Dexter
16. Dexter Rides Again
17. I Can't Escape From You
18. Dexter Digs In
19. If You Could See Me Now
20. I Can Make You Love Me If You Let Me
21. You're Not the Kind
22. My Kinda Love

Disc 2:

1. Jay Bird
2. Jay Bird [Alternate Take]
3. Coppin' the Bop
4. Jay Jay
5. Mad Bebop
6. Bebop in Pastel
7. Fool's Fancy
8. Bombay
9. Ray's Idea
10. Serenade to a Square
11. Good Kick
12. Seven Up
13. Blues in Bebop
14. Boppin' a Riff
15. Fat Boy
16. Everything's Cool
17. Webb City
18. I'll Remember April
19. (Back Home Again In) Indiana
20. Somebody Loves Me
21. I Should Care
22. Bud's Bubble
23. Off Minor

Disc 3:

1. Nice Work If You Can Get It
2. Everything Happens to Me
3. Donna Lee
4. Chasin' the Bird
5. Cheryl
6. Buzzy
7. Tempus Fugit
8. Celia
9. Cherokee
10. I'll Keep Loving You
11. Strictly Confidential
12. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
13. Bouncing with Bud
14. Wail
15. Dance of the Infidels
16. 52nd Street Theme
17. You Go to My Head
18. Ornithology
19. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
20. Sonny Side
21. Bud's Blues
22. Sunset
23. Strike up the Band
24. I Want to Be Happy

Disc 4:

1. Taking a Chance on Love
2. Fine and Dandy
3. Fine and Dandy [Alternate Take]
4. So Sorry, Please
5. Get Happy
6. Sometimes I'm Happy
7. Sweet Georgia Brown
8. Yesterdays
9. April in Paris
10. Body and Soul
11. 'Round Midnight
12. Street Beat
13. Out of Nowhere
14. Ornithology
15. I'll Remember April
16. Hallelujah
17. Tea for Two

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89314 in Music
• Released on: 2001-04-23
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Import

Album Description
UK budget priced box-set for one of the giants of the jazz piano of whom Bill Evans said 'His insight and talent were unmatched in hard-core, true jazz'. Bud Powell has also been described as being the most brilliant of bebop pianists, the only modern jazz musician who equalled the supersonic speed and creativity of Charlie Parker. Four discs, 'Blue Garden Blues' featuring material recorded between 1944-46, 'Bud's Bubble' 1946-47, 'I'll Keep Loving You' 1947-50 & 'So Sorry Please' 1950, featuring 86 digitally remastered tracks compiled by Joop Visser. Includes 48 page illustrated booklet.

Customer Reviews

Amazing collection
This boxed set is full of incredible gems by Powell with many other giants of jazz (Cootie Williams, Dexter Gordon, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stit, Fats Navarro, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, Buddy Rich, etc.). There are cuts on this collection, especially on CD#4, that are up there with the best piano playing I have ever heard (that from a listener, not a player). My collection includes many great piano players - Evans, Tatum, Hines, Wilson, Peterson, Tyner, Garner, Brubeck and many others, but listening to this cd along with the Blue Note Best of Bud Powell (which picks up where Tempus Fugue-It leaves off - acting as a fifth CD in the set) convinces me that Powell ranks with the very best.

I have noticed that some reviewers complain when the sound quality of old recordings is not very good (eg: Okeh Ellington - which is one of my favorites). I am no expert on modern digital sound magic, but I do know that the sound quality varies on this collection. Some cuts have fairly poor sound quality.

Also, I have found two errors on the set. One is on track 19, disc 1, where a fragment of the end of the song is left floating between tracks - an editing error. The other is the reverse listing (booklet and CD jacket) of the songs "Dance of the Infidels" and "52nd Street Theme" - tracks 15 and 16 on disc 4, which actually play in the order of 16 then 15.

However, despite the poor quality of a few of the cuts, and the minor errors, the music is so awesome, that it makes little difference to this listener. It is clearly a 5-star set!

Essential, affordable Bud Powell
I own almost 40 Bud Powell albums, and try to learn as many of his compositions as time permits. I have the Complete Bud Powell on Blue Note and on Verve, and even most of his Mythic Sounds LPs from France and New York in the early '60s. As much as I love late Bud Powell, I can state that this is the one box set to have if you're having only one. If you're interested in later Bud, get the complete Blue Note Box or find Live in Lausanne and Blues for Bouffemont. Proper presents a very informative booklet about Bud's brilliance and troubled career. This was issued right after British copyrights expired on Bud's first recordings for Vogue, Savoy, Blue Note, Prestige, and Verve expired there. Nothing after 1950 is included. Still, this contains his first recordings (with Cootie Williams) and all the sides that initially made Bud famous (Webb City, Off Minor, Indiana, Nice Work If You Can Get It, plus the Fats Navarro/Sonny Rollins sessions for Blue Note, early Dexter Gordon sessions, some collaborations with Charlie Parker, the Sonny Stitt/J.J. Johnson sessions for Prestige, and some of his first Verve classics).

Simply Amazing!
This box set of Bud Powell focuses on the early recordings from 1944-1950,displaying the great bebop pianist at the very height of his career.The box set includes four compact disc(86 recordings) and a very nice 48 page illustrated booklet.If you've never really heard this genius of a pianist, this is wonderful introduction to the man who in my opinion was equal to or dare I say better than charlie parker!Powells playing on this set is nothing short of incredible in its creative flow and spontaneity, a must have for any bebop connoisseur.