Bud Powell Trio Plays

AMG Review of Bud Powell Trio Plays

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

All of the music on this single CD is included in the Blue Note four-CD "complete" set (the best way to acquire these important performances); however listeners who do not have the larger reissue will not go wrong by getting this CD. The first eight selections (which find the pianist joined by bassist Curley Russell and drummer Max Roach) are from Bud Powell's first trio date and he is in prime form on such numbers as "I'll Remember April," "Someboy Loves Me" and "Bud's Bubble." The second session (with bassist George Duvivier and drummer Art Taylor in 1953) does not quite reach the same heights but it does contain some fine playing from the founder of bop piano.