Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966 in New York City) was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk.[1] Along with Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a key player in the history of bebop, and his virtuosity as a pianist led many to call him "the Charlie Parker of the piano".[2]
Powell's grandfather was a flamenco guitarist, and his father was a stride pianist.[3] The family lived in New York City.[4] Powell learned classical piano from an early age, but by the age of eight was interested in jazz, playing his own transcriptions of pianists Art Tatum and Fats Waller.[5] His older brother William played the trumpet, and by the age of fifteen Powell was playing in his brother's band. His younger brother Richie and schoolfriend Elmo Hope were also accomplished pianists who had significant careers. Thelonious Monk was an important early teacher and mentor, and a close friend throughout Powell's life, dedicating the composition "In Walked Bud" to him.
In the early forties Powell played in a number of bands, including that of Cootie Williams, who had to become Powell's guardian because of his youth, and his first recording date was with Williams's band in 1944. This session included the first ever recording of Monk's "'Round Midnight". Monk also introduced Powell to the circle of bebop musicians starting to form at Minton's Playhouse, and other early recordings included sessions with Frank Socolow, Dexter Gordon, J. J. Johnson, Sonny Stitt, Fats Navarro and Kenny Clarke. In the early years of bebop, Powell and Monk, as the first great modern jazz pianists, towered over their contemporaries, Al Haig, Ralph Burns, Dodo Marmarosa, and Walter Bishop, Jr.