Bud Powell with Roy Haynes: Unissued "Live" Recording 1956

In early 1956, a group of celebrated jazz musicians toured the U.S.A. as the Birdland Stars of ‘56. This was organized by Morris Levy, a co-owner of the nightclub of the same name. At every show, each artist played a short set, with Basie’s band getting the most time. Check out this incomplete list of the artists—very impressive!:

(There were other Birdland tours. For example, you may know that in the fall of 1956 Birdland brought Miles and Pres, among others, to play together in Europe.)

When the artists arrived at Chicago’s Civic Opera House to do two shows on February 18, 1956, one fan was sitting up front with a stereo tape recorder. (Stereo came to reel-to-reel a few years before the first stereo LP was released in late 1957.) Thanks to this fan, I have a number of recordings from this concert in good sound, and I will post them periodically. (Special thanks to James Accardi for working hard to make sure the left and right channels are in sync, and to improve the sound quality.)

For today, here’s Bud’s set of three tunes, with Sarah Vaughan’s rhythm team of Joe Benjamin on bass and the late Roy Haynes on drums. You can see Roy’s typical setup of around that time here:

The drawing is from the book Star Sets by Jon Cohan and mentions WFL drums. The photo is from ca.1960 when Haynes played Slingerland drums. In later years he typically added another cymbal and one or two more tom-toms.

Powell is not in the amazing form of, say, 1949, but he is playing quite well, just a little rough on the faster runs. His style has changed a bit since he was younger. For example, by now his left hand is playing chords rather than the low rumbles we associated with him. Bud has worked out intricate arrangements for all three themes. You’ll recognize the voice of the legendary M.C. from the Birdland nightclub, Pee Wee Marquette, after which Bud launches into “I Want To Be Happy.” After a fine solo, he plays a chordal background while the bassist solos at 2:34.

(For comparison, you may wish to watch Bud playing the same song on French television in 1961, with Kenny Clarke on drums—an excellent performance.)

Next is “That Old Black Magic,” In Bud’s arrangement. Please note that at 2:28 there is a gap of just a few seconds while the fan turned the tape over. At 3:20 Bud plays the bridge solo, freely, in Tatum-esque style. Overall, he sounds much better than he did on his studio version of this tune, which was recorded in December ‘54 and released by Norman Granz. Roy relies heavily on the high hat in this set, but here he starts on brushes, and in the middle, you will hear him “riding” on a cymbal while the high hat closes on 2 and 4. Let’s listen:

Finally, Bud concludes his short set with “I Hear Music.” This is one that he never recorded in the studio, but there are several “live” versions from the 1960s. Again, he is in nice form here, and plays an inventive chord solo at 2:38 during the bassist’s featured spot.

This set is a treat, and there’s much more to come!

All the best,
Lewis