Bud Powell was the first truly great jazz pianist (along with his friend Thelonious Monk) and got the chance to see jazz grow from swing to bebop to hard bop to avant-garde and free jazz; working across three decades- the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
This record was the result of two separate sessions; the first is notable because it featured a young Sonny Rollins on tenor sax and Fats Navarro on trumpet (also included were Tommy Potter on bass and Roy Haynes on the drum kit; he also recorded tunes with these two gentleman as a trio here; dated August 9th, 1949) and another trio session; May 1st, 1951 with bassist Curley Russell and the one and only Max Roach manning the skins.
This album has some historical significance in that it was one of the first records to fully synthesize African and Cuban rhythms successfully; before this the two genres were sort of dabbled in and poked around by Dizzy Gillespie, but Powell's interest in these funkier art forms are explored more deeply here.
This is the Rudy Van Gelder 2001 re-master (with bonus tracks and alternate takes- there are re-issued versions of this from 1955 titled The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1); a must-have for any fans of jazz piano...
