To fully feel the beauty and grace of jazz at its highest level, you must savor the sadness that comes with the joy and the poetry that's baked into the music's history. They are one, like two sides of the same coin. Most exceptional jazz musicians had tragic sides, making one wonder whether greatness was even possible without the demons and deep melancholy. [Photo above of Bud Powell]
Yesterday, Matt LeGrouix sent along a link to a stunning French documentary on Bud Powell that just went up in June. It's gripping and emotional, weaving in and out of the bebop pioneer's music and life using terrific historical film, performance footage and interviews with key players in Powell's life. [Photo above of Bud Powell by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]
Here's Bud Powell: Inner Exile, a 1998 French documentary directed by Robert Mugnerot...
