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Wail: The Life of Bud Powell Paperback – December 1, 2012
The biography examines all aspects of Powell's career but, more at, looks at the struggles that all modern musicians (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis, among others) had, in trying to put across their ideas in a jazz world that had become stuck in its swing-band conventions.
The book situates Powell not only in the nightclub milieu, first in uptown New York City and, then, in midtown; the story also quotes dozens of musicians on the informal scene, of what went on offstage -- in the recording studios and, privately, in people's homes.
Then, as Powell's success brought with it unwelcome attention, the narrative doesn't flinch from documenting his involvement with alcohol and heroin. Further, through requests made of the police, FBI, and New York State health-department officials, Powell's life in psychiatric hospitals is detailed, the story carefully narrating his years in detention.
Powell's fortunes improved when, at the end of the Fifties, he moved to Paris. The book has the same eye for detail here, as many French musicians and fans spoke to the author of the more public, and easygoing, life that Powell led there.
Throughout, *Wail* provides the colorful anecdotes of the jazz musician's life, as based as it is on so many eyewitnesses' accounts.
But it is a fair-minded, demystifying, complete biography, one with constant reference to Powell's recording sessions and live appearances -- but also as these events took place against the larger, social milieux of New York, Paris, and the other cities where Powell performed.
A scholarly appendix examines the bizarre, punitive regulations that hampered many performers from appearing in New York nightclubs. This story unfolded uniquely in New York, against the backdrop of the evolution of the nightclub and its unique brand of entertainment.
****
Peter Pullman worked in the music industry throughout the Nineties. One of the projects that he shepherded to publication was a 150-page booklet, which accompanied five CDs of Bud Powell performances. The booklet canvased the opinions of a dozen musicians who had known Powell personally or who had been much influenced by him.
The project got Pullman a Grammy nomination. From that time, he sought to understand as much of Powell's life as he could. After 300 formal interviews and 500 informal ones; research in private archives, the police record, and FBI files; successful petitioning of New York state psychiatric hospitals; and a series of fact-finding trips to Europe -- this last, including visits with Powell obsessive Francis Paudras, and scouring of his archive -- finally yielded *Wail*, the culmination of a dozen years' effort.
*Wail* is Pullman's first book.
- Print length476 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPeter Pullman
- Publication dateDecember 1, 2012
- ISBN-100985141816
- ISBN-13978-0985141813
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Product details
- Publisher : Peter Pullman (December 1, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 476 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0985141816
- ISBN-13 : 978-0985141813
- Best Sellers Rank: #7,700,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #196,684 in Music (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book informative and well-researched, providing deep insights into the life of jazz artist Bud Powell. They describe it as a great portrait of a singular musical genius. The biography is detailed and meticulously documented. Readers appreciate the close readings of the music and the author's writing style. While not falling into sentimentality, it shows profound respect for Powell and his art.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book informative and well-researched. It provides deep insights into Bud Powell's life and struggles. They find it engaging and informative, with an objective perspective that conveys facts and analyses.
"...In short, this is a book that gets inside your head and stays there. So why did I give it four stars?..." Read more
"...and creative artists in the history of jazz, whose significance extends beyond jazz such that the noted literary authority Harold Bloom included Bud..." Read more
"This is a wonderful and thorough, if somewhat depressing...." Read more
"...complex musician as he strings thousands of facts into a lively, lucid account that engages and informs the reader...." Read more
Customers find the book's visual quality good. It provides a great portrait of a musical genius and creative artist. The author appears to be well-educated and offers much more detail on this elusive pianist.
"...against insurmountable odds, while continually creating a supremely high level of art...." Read more
"...He was the original master of bebop piano. He rivaled Art Tatum in sheer virtuosity at the keyboard...." Read more
"...But it is more than a biography of one of the most original and creative artists in the history of jazz, whose significance extends beyond jazz such..." Read more
"...research that lies behind his masterful portrait of a highly complex musician as he strings thousands of facts into a lively, lucid account that..." Read more
Customers find the biography of Bud Powell detailed and well-researched. It covers his music, hospitalizations, and hospital experiences in depth. The narrative is gripping, with detailed analyses and appreciations of recordings of his work.
"...Peter Pullman is a fantastic listener, master researcher, and gifted writer, and he has captured the richness of the jazz culture of Powell's time...." Read more
"...Pullman's biography of Powell is complete, meticulously documented, and absolutely trustworthy...." Read more
"...But it is more than a biography of one of the most original and creative artists in the history of jazz, whose significance extends beyond jazz such..." Read more
"...for his years of dedication to this major project and for the exhaustive research that lies behind his masterful portrait of a highly complex..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's music quality. They praise its close readings of the music, describing it as a must-read for jazz enthusiasts. The author is described as a fantastic listener, master researcher, and gifted writer. The book is comprehensive enough to appeal to jazz aficionados, yet compelling and energetic from bar to bar.
"...Peter Pullman is a fantastic listener, master researcher, and gifted writer, and he has captured the richness of the jazz culture of Powell's time...." Read more
"...are interested in plumbing the depths of the short but intense life of this musical genius, whose period of greatest brilliance lasted only a few..." Read more
"...These are "close readings" of the music, following the ebb and flow of its ideas and energy from bar to bar, chorus to chorus...." Read more
"...Wail" is careful and comprehensive enough to appeal to the jazz aficionado, but it is also a compelling biography in strictly human terms...." Read more
Customers enjoy the writing style. They find it well-written and researched, providing deep insights into Bud Powell. The tone and style are deliberate and accessible, conveying facts clearly.
"...Peter Pullman is a fantastic listener, master researcher, and gifted writer, and he has captured the richness of the jazz culture of Powell's time...." Read more
"...His tone and style are deliberate and accessible, as he steadily conveys facts and analyses that ultimately paint a complex portrait of an..." Read more
"...I was wrong. This is the definitive book on Bud Powell, is very well written and researched...." Read more
"...A must for some one who wants to understand the idiom . Well written and informative ." Read more
Customers find the book touching and moving. They say it's compassionate and respectful, with many moments that make you cry and smile.
"...It does not fall into sentimentality, yet it shows profound respect for Powell and his art...." Read more
"...It is clear eyed yet compassionate in tracing the creative peaks and valleys of Powell's amazing life...." Read more
"...This book will make you cry and there are many moments that will make you simile...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2012I am an avid jazz fan and have read much of what has been written about the jazz greats. Out of all of the books written on jazz artists, Peter Pullman's biography of Bud Powell most effectively captures the heart and soul of Powell, his colleagues and his contemporaries. Growing up in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem, I lived in the midst of jazz history and listened and learned from the musicians themselves, as well as the children and grandchildren of some of the jazz greats of the time, including Andy Kirk, Johnny Hodges, Al Hall, Don Redman, and Jackie McLean (affectionately known on `The Hill' as Jackie Mac). It is remarkable that Pullman, who did not grow up in our neighborhood, listened so closely and sensitively in his interviews, that he is able to capture the untold story of what these jazz greats endured against insurmountable odds, while continually creating a supremely high level of art. Other authors often don't unearth the truth, and report the stories in a sanitized, patronizing way, focusing on the cliché of the addiction of jazz artists, without digging into the sociological background soil of these musicians of color. Pullman masterfully portrays Powell as a genius of the highest order and he goes way beyond the stereotypical storyline.
Peter Pullman is a fantastic listener, master researcher, and gifted writer, and he has captured the richness of the jazz culture of Powell's time. He tells the story from the mouths of the people who lived the jazz scene of the era. I was particularly impressed by how the story of Powell's psychiatric and drug history, including multiple hospitalizations, are placed in its proper historical context, and Pullman sensitively describes what happened without sensationalizing it.
For those who have followed jazz for generations, or for the reader new to the exploration of the art of jazz, this book is not to be missed. Wail: The Life of Bud Powell is an art form in itself.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2014This is an important and thorough biography of one of the most significant musicians in the history of jazz. Bud Powell essentially invented the way modern jazz piano is played. He was the original master of bebop piano. He rivaled Art Tatum in sheer virtuosity at the keyboard. He was admired by audiences and musicians alike.
Powell was also the textbook definition of a tortured artist. A child prodigy at the piano, he suffered from alcoholism, drug abuse and mental illness during his entire too-short life. He also was a victim of more than one act of racially motivated violence early in adulthood, and this undoubtedly contributed to his demons and his early demise.
Peter Pullman has done the work of a lifetime in researching the life of this jazz genius, and all students and fans of jazz must be deeply grateful. Over several decades he interviewed anyone living who might have been able to offer any insight at all into Powell's life. Most importantly, he successfully sued the State of New York to get the release of the records of Powell's psychiatric treatment. Pullman's biography of Powell is complete, meticulously documented, and absolutely trustworthy. It does not fall into sentimentality, yet it shows profound respect for Powell and his art.
In an appendix, Pullman carefully examines the history of the notorious "cabaret card" system in New York that kept a leash on the live-performance careers of many musicians for decades. As a fan and student of jazz, I have long heard about this or that musician having his cabaret card revoked and thus being prohibited from playing in New York clubs, but until now I have never known exactly what that meant. Pullman exposes the injustice of that now-defunct system.
Pullman's narrative of Powell's life is gripping. As I read this massive work over a couple weeks, I found that I carried resonances of Powell's struggle and pain around with me. In short, this is a book that gets inside your head and stays there.
So why did I give it four stars? Because this self-published e-book is desperately in need of an editor. Several other reviewers here have mentioned some of Pullman's writerly idiosyncrasies and have said they were slightly distracting. I'm afraid I found them quite distracting indeed.
Some of Pullman's habits are understandable and defensible. His consistent use of the terms "so-called color" and "so-called race" is effective in forcing the reader to reflect on the arbitrary nature of racial discrimination in twentieth-century America. On the other hand, Pullman seems at times to want to resolve this ambiguity by pretending that racial distinctions did not exist. To cite one of the most striking examples, nowhere does the book mention that Powell's wife, Audrey Hill, was white. This is a big deal. These distinctions loomed large in Powell's life and the lives of Americans in the 1950s.
More troubling to me is Pullman's invention of two code words to refer to Americans of European descent (i.e., white people) and of African descent (i.e., black people). At first the words "euram" and "afram" just seemed a bit silly and weird. As the book went on, though, the word "afram" gradually began to come across as a nickname. I cannot think of any racial nicknames that are not essentially problematic and eventually hurtful. It is hard to understand why the author needed to invent these two new words. Nothing would have been lost by referring to Powell and the people in his life as "black" and "white." Just about all readers in the modern world understand those two words to be shorthand for complicated ethnicities.
Finally, Pullman's fixation on avoiding the definite article "the" is just bizarre, and I cannot understand what he was trying to achieve with it. With almost total consistency, he refers to places and organizations without using the definite article, so that the Miles Davis Quintet becomes simply Miles Davis Quintet, or the Savoy Ballroom becomes just Savoy Ballroom. The record label and the New York and Paris nightclubs are referred to always as "Blue Note," not "the Blue Note" for the nightclubs and "Blue Note" for the record label. Sorry, nobody actually talks like that. The jazz standard song is called "Stomping at the Savoy," not "Stomping at Savoy." Although Pullman tries to defend his choice in his introduction, I'm just not buying it. The fact that more than one reviewer here mentions this quirk tells me that I'm not overreacting.
These stylistic misgivings aside, however, this huge book (the equivalent of something like 900 pages of print) is a must for anyone interested in the history of jazz. I do not know another jazz biography this complete. I very much appreciate Peter Pullman for the decades of toil and energy he put into this book. I now know one of my jazz heroes about as well as I might ever have hoped to.
Top reviews from other countries
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GiulioReviewed in Italy on February 20, 2013
5.0 out of 5 stars Completo e utile!
Certe informazioni si trovano solo in questo libro. Peccato non esiste la versione cartacea. Facile da leggere, completo e molto utile!