Time Waits (The Amazing Bud Powell)

Description

One of the giants of jazz piano, Bud Powell was a troubled genius who survived institutionalization and electro-shock treatments to amass a body of recorded work that was of mostly transcendent quality.

Time Waits: The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 4 was the fourth in a series of five similarly titled Blue Note recordings released over a decade beginning in 1949. Here, Powell plays in a trio setting with Sam Jones on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. This is a tight, hard-driving group, as evidenced by the simpatico playing on “Sub City,” where there is careful choreography along with some tasteful soloing.

The center holds as the trio moves to “Time Waits,” a slow ballad that features Powell’s trademark roving left hand. All of the tunes are Powell originals, and there is an alternate take of “Sub City,” so you can debate which of the two is better.