Bud Powell, l'exil intérieur Série-Collection : Thema : Jazz exils

Robert Mugnerot
1999 - 55 min - France

The greatest be-bop pianist did not speak. This slightly autistic behaviour is usually attributed to a thorough bludgeoning by policemen in Philadelphia one evening when he had been drinking. He was not yet 20 years old. Thereafter he had a permanent, deep scar on his head, and in his soul an incurable wound which often took him to psychiatric hospitals. But this very shy man became voluble again in front of a keyboard.
Powell was soon recognised as Charlie Parker’s equal (with his genius) but he did not have his charisma. This explains, no doubt, why he received less recognition from the American public. Better received in Europe, he lived for five years in Paris. He spent the last two years of his life in New York, his native city, where he died in poverty in 1966.
This film pays tribute to the brilliant pianist and composer, whose first recordings for the "Blue Note" and "Verve" labels have become legendary.