– Exclusively available on www.samrecords.fr –

Sam Records and Saga in association with François Lacharme present:
Bud Powell – Chez Francis – Paris 1962-64
Celebrating Bud Powell’s 100^th anniversary!
Relaxed and inspired, the pianist is captured at home by his friend Francis Paudras.
Some precious and intimate moments that reveal the genius of an indispensable jazz creator.

ONLY 500 HAND-NUMBERED COPIES AVAILABLE!

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Bud Powell moved to Paris in autumn 1959, following an engagement at the Club Saint-Germain, where he had already performed in 1957, accompanied by Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke. Following in the footsteps of Kenny Clarke, who had been living in Paris since the mid-1950s, Bud Powell spent five years in the French capital.  It was during this extended stay that he befriended Francis Paudras, a relationship that inspired the film Autour de Minuit, and thanks to which we are fortunate to listen to this selection of tracks curated by Daniel Richard.

This library of informal recordings inherited from Paudras is the source of the present programme, and there are numerous delights herein.  It needs to be pointed out that the recording quality is good but not of professional standard and also that the piano in Paudras’s apartment, to which Bud became so intimately attached, had probably seen better days. But anyone lending half an ear to these exceptional tapes will rapidly overlook any apparent technical deficiencies, and find themselves riveted by the quality of the music.

The repertoire played by Powell in the 13 tracks selected here consists of a mixture of American song standards, jazz standards and some original pieces.  Bud’s choice of song standards is in some ways untypical of the bebop generation to which he belonged, for they usually played their own lines using the chords of standards, as when he adds ‘Ornithology’ at the end of ‘How High the Moon’.  But using the original melody of ‘All God’s Children Got Rhythm’ was by then probably deemed unfashionable, as were ‘I Know That You Know’, ‘Idaho’ or the 1929 ‘Deep Night’, each of which he had previously recorded on studio albums as is the case with the 1952 hit, ‘When I Fall in Love’.  ‘Wahoo’, on the other hand, was a jazz standard of the period, and Bud’s versions of two Monk tunes are notable: ‘Stuffy Turkey’ and ‘Ruby My Dear’, where he stays reverentially close to Monk’s own voicings.

Four of Powell’s own originals provide considerable enlightenment.  The opening track of the album ‘Una Noche Con Francis’ has built-in contrasts, with the theme being very Latin-jazz flavoured despite the lack of any percussion instruments.  When the pianist switches to a swing feel for his solo, the change is remarkably clear on the keyboard. A similar swing approach is heard in both ‘In the Mood for a Classic’ and ‘Yeheadeadeadee’.  Both provide examples of Bud’s sublimely melodic improvisation, and the dynamic accentuation of his phrasing.  ‘Blues for Bouffémont’, on the other hand, is a rare example of his slow-blues playing and contains around the 2’30” mark what sounds like a reference to ‘Parker’s Mood’.

The name of Bud’s blues, however, is a reference to the fact that Powell was hospitalised in 1963.  On returning to the Paudras household, he rapidly recovered his facility at the keyboard and prepared for his August stay on the coast of Normandy.  But more significant, and ultimately more tragic, was the invitation to return later that month to New York for an open-ended residency at Birdland, which lasted less than eight weeks before he was dismissed.  Paudras had travelled with him and arranged to bring him back to Paris, but he wasn’t to be found when the time came and Francis returned alone.  Then it was a further descent into the abyss for the pianist, with further hospitalisations and finally his death on July 31, 1966.

There had been attempts at studio sessions during this New York period, but it might be fair to say that these recordings by Paudras, done while Powell was relaxed and being cared for, are the last to be worth revisiting.  The earlier classic discs among his albums of the 1940s-1950s (often on the Blue Note or Verve labels) remain accessible and continue to provide an essential education about the development of Bud’s iconic style.  And, of course, there are still countless examples of pianists who were influenced by his creations.  The enclosed music, however, is a unique insight into his playing during a unique period in his life.

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Musical selection and sequencing by Daniel Richard.
Produced by François Lê Xuân and Fred Thomas for Sam Records / Saga under license from François Lacharme.
Special thanks to Dominique Cravic and Martin Davies.

Ruby My Dear :

Blues for Bouffémont :

In the Mood for a Classic :

Bud Powell (Piano)
Michel Gaudry (Bass on A1, A3, B4)
Francis Paudras (Brushes on A4, A5, B2, B5, B6)

Side A

• Una Noche Con francis (Bud Powell) 3’45
• Ruby, My Dear (Thelonious Monk) 3’52
• In The Mood For A Classic (Bud Powell) 3’06
• Stuffy Turkey (Thelonious Monk) 1’54
• Deep Night (Charlie Henderson) 4’14
• Blues For Bouffémont (Bud Powell) 4’20

Side B

• How High The Moon / Ornithology (C. Parker-B. Harris) 2’48
• All God’s Children Got Rhythm (B. Kaper-W. Jurmann) 2’09
• I Know That You Know (Vincent Youmans) 2’04
• Yeheadeadeadee (Bud Powell) 3’16
• Wahoo (Bennis Harris) 1’59
• Idaho (Jesse Stone) 2’29
• When I Fall In Love (To Nicole And Francis) 2’01

• Re-mastered from the original Mono Reel to Reel Tapes by François Lê Xuân, Studio 101.
  
• Limited repress 500 copies.
• 180 gr vinyl pressed by Pallas in Germany.
• Deluxe high-gloss flipback album jacket.
• Liners by Brian Priestley and Francis Lacharme.
• Photos by Jean-Pierre Leloir.
• Artwork by Jean-Louis Duralek.
• Each record has been visually checked to prevent defects.